"Well--there are ghosts. I saw one last night. It came into the room just after I got into bed."
"You can see them," Nicky said. "Ferdie's seen heaps. It runs in his family. He told me."
"He never told me."
"Rather not. He was afraid you'd be frightened."
"Well, I wasn't frightened. Not the least little bit."
"I shall tell him that. He wanted most awfully to know whether you saw them too."
"Me? But Nicky--it was Ferdie I saw. He stood by the door and looked at me. Like he does, you know."
The next morning Frances had a letter of two lines from Veronica's mother:
"Ferdie died last evening at half past eight.
"He wants you to keep Ronny.
"VERA."
It was not till years later that Veronica knew that "He wanted most awfully to know whether you saw them too" meant "He wanted most awfully to know whether you really were his daughter."