"This is what I wanted to ask you about, Cousin Kate," said Candace, when quiet was restored. "The book says:—
"'The signature of a letter should depend upon the degree of familiarity existing between the writer and the person addressed. For instance, in writing to a perfect stranger a lady would naturally use the form,—
Yours truly,
Mrs. A. M. Cotterell.'"
"Oh! oh!" interrupted Georgie. "Fancy any one signing herself 'Yours truly, Mrs. A. M. Cotterell.' It's awfully vulgar, isn't it mamma?"
"That is a very old-fashioned book," observed Mrs. Gray; "still I don't think, even at the time when it was published, that well-bred people used a signature like that. It may not be 'awfully vulgar,' but it certainly is not correct; nothing but the Christian name should ever be used as a signature."
"But suppose the person you were writing to did not know whether you were married or not," said Candace.
"Then you can add your address below, like this;" and she wrote on the edge of her drawing-paper,—
"Yours truly,
"Catherine V. Gray.
"Mrs. Courtenay Gray,
"Newport, R. I.
That is what I should do if I were writing to a stranger."
"Then there is this about the addresses of letters," went on Candace:—