"Now,
please, bring me my letters, and leave me alone; and after that I should
like to speak to Canon Livingstone. Don't let him go, please. I won't
be long--half an hour, I think. Only let me be alone."
There was a hurried feverish sharpness in her tone that made Mrs. Forbes
very anxious, but she judged it best to comply with her requests.
The letters were brought, the lights were arranged so that she could read
them lying on her bed; and they left her. Then she got up and stood on
her feet, dizzy enough, her arms clasped at the top of her head, her eyes
dilated and staring as if looking at some great horror. But after a few
minutes she sat down suddenly, and began to read. Letters were evidently
missing. Some had been sent by an opportunity that had been delayed on
the journey, and had not yet arrived in Rome. Others had been despatched
by the post, but the severe weather, the unusual snow, had, in those
days, before the railway was made between Lyons and Marseilles, put a
stop to many a traveller's plans, and had rendered the transmission of
the mail extremely uncertain; so, much of that intelligence which Miss
Monro had evidently considered as certain to be known to Ellinor was
entirely matter of conjecture, and could only be guessed at from what was
told in these letters. One was from Mr. Johnson, one from Mr.
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