Ethelberta sat down, thought of the meeting at Corvsgate Castle, of the
dinner-party at Mr. Doncastle's, of the strange position she had there
been in, and then of her father. She suddenly reproached herself for
thoughtlessness; for in her pocket lay a letter from him, which she had
taken from the postman that morning at the moment of coming from the
door, and in the hurry of embarking had forgotten ever since. Opening it
quickly, she read:--

'MY DEAR ETHELBERTA,--Your letter reached me yesterday, and I called
round at Exonbury Crescent in the afternoon, as you wished. Everything
is going on right there, and you have no occasion to be anxious about
them. I do not leave town for another week or two, and by the time I
am gone Sol and Dan will have returned from Paris, if your mother and
Gwendoline want any help: so that you need not hurry back on their
account.

'I have something else to tell you, which is not quite so
satisfactory, and it is this that makes me write at once; but do not
be alarmed. It began in this way. A few nights after the
dinner-party here I was determined to find out if there was any truth
in what you had been told about that boy, and having seen Menlove go
out as usual after dark, I followed her. Sure enough, when she had
got into the park, up came master Joe, smoking a cigar. As soon as
they had met I went towards them, and Menlove, seeing somebody draw
nigh, began to edge off, when the blockhead said, "Never mind, my
love, it is only the old man." Being very provoked with both of them,
though she was really the most to blame, I gave him some smart cuts
across the shoulders with my cane, and told him to go home, which he
did with a flea in his ear, the rascal. I believe I have cured his