"I have to talk about it. I think of it every minute."
"Put it out of your head."
"I can't."
"Nonsense! You don't try. Why don't you set about doing something and forget it instead of sitting round mooning and working yourself all up? You can run down and get the mail right now. There's the bell. Maybe it's a letter from Uncle Frederick."
Welcoming the diversion her brother rose with alacrity. He was in a mood when any excitement, no matter how trivial, was a boon. Down the stairs he ran only to return a second later with a square white envelope in his hand.
"Is it from Uncle Frederick?" queried Mary eagerly.
"Nope!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't heard from him for ever so long. I do hope nothing's the matter. Who is the letter from?"
"I don't know."
Something in the reticence of the reply caused the girl to glance up.