Brownie reached over and pressed her red lips upon it. The act nearly unnerved Miss Mehetabel again.
“I was taken to a room in the house,” she went on, “put to bed, and a physician sent for, but it was hours before I recovered consciousness, and the doctor said I had had a marvelous escape.
“I lay for days listening, trying to catch the echo of Roy’s footsteps, and once or twice I fancied I heard it, and the deep, rich tones of his voice, asking some eager question. Then the sound would die away, and I thought my ears and my longing heart had deceived me, for he never came, and I was too proud and hurt to send for him.
“At last one day my maid brought me in a little note.
“I saw and recognized the handwriting as soon as she opened the door.
“‘Give it to me, quick!’ I cried, my heart bounding at the sight of it.
“With trembling fingers I tore it open and read these cold, formal words:
“‘Will Miss Douglas kindly favor me with an interview, if she is strong enough to endure it? and oblige,
“‘Royal Dunforth.’
“I nearly shrieked at the icy words—my nerves were still unstrung, and they hurt me as nothing else had ever done before.