Margaret readily obeyed, and kneeling down besides her sister's chair, looked at the letter in question.
"I think," said she, "it's from the upholsterer who purchased some of our old furniture, that's H on the seal, and his name was Hill."
"Very likely, but look, Margaret, here's one for Emma—a lady's hand too—the London post-mark, and a coronet on the seal—good gracious, that must be from Miss Osborne, or perhaps from her brother—I wonder if one could see anything inside. You see Lord Osborne has franked it, and it's in an envelope, how tiresome: if it had only been folded like another letter we could have read some of it."
"So we might, I dare say Emma will never tell us a word, she's so close, she never chats comfortably with one about anything; I am sure to this day I know nothing at all about what she thinks of Lord Osborne, or any of his family—it's so provoking and disagreeable."
"So it is, I hate such nasty close dispositions; I, who am all openness and frankness, cannot comprehend anything secret and underhand: well, we cannot help it, and I suppose we shall not know what it is about. Take those letters to the office, Margaret, and tell the clerk they were brought into the drawing-room by mistake."
Whilst Margaret fulfilled this commission, and stopped to flirt with the young clerk who received them, an old acquaintance of hers, Mrs. Watson, having first carefully laid aside the suspected epistle to her husband, proceeded up-stairs with Emma's letter, and after turning it over in every direction, and even holding it up to the light at the stair-case window, but without benefit, she suddenly entered the nursery. There she found Janetta had dropped asleep on a bed, and Emma taking advantage of the leisure thus afforded, was preparing to write a letter.
"Janetta asleep, oh!" said the anxious mother, "well then you will have time, Emma, to do a little job for me, I want some alterations in the trimmings of my bombazine gown, and I wish you would do it for me before evening."
"I shall be happy," replied Emma, "to do anything in my power to oblige you, if you will only explain it to me."
"Very well, come with me, and I will shew you what I want; oh, by the bye, here's a letter for you, I think it must be from Miss Osborne from the seal—does she write to you often?"
"No," replied Emma, surprised at hearing this, and holding out her hand for the letter which Mrs. Watson still detained to examine, "I never heard from her before since she left the country!"