The Colonel chuckled over this letter; nevertheless it was against his code to send it, but Letty was firm, and Tom Battercake was despatched for the second time that day to Shrewsbury, with an important communication.
Letty was radiant with triumph. It was no mean victory to achieve over Mr. Romaine.
“And if he reads between the lines he will see that he won’t be here with those sharp black eyes and that cackling laugh of his when it comes to disposing of his property,” she gleefully remarked to the Colonel.
But her triumph only lasted until Tom Battercake’s return. He brought the following letter from Mr. Romaine:
My Dear Miss Corbin:
Your spirited and delightful letter has just been received. Permit me to say that I have been so charmed with your disinterestedness and freedom from that love of money which is the cancer of our age, that it only determines me the more to allow my well-considered will to stand. I need only make the alteration of leaving the property in trust for you, so that it will be out of your power to dispose of the principal, even to give it to my relatives—whom I particularly do not desire to have it. All I ask is that you continue to me the kindness you have always shown me. My ailments become daily more complicated and acute, but still I possess great vitality, and I would be deceiving you if I gave you to understand that you would not have long to wait for your inheritance. But whether you treat me well or ill, it and myself are both
Forever yours,
Rich. Romaine.
At the conclusion of the reading of this letter Letty sat down and cried as if her heart would break, from pure spite and chagrin at Mr. Romaine’s “outrageous behavior,” as she and the Colonel agreed in calling it.
VIII
