Immediately she despised herself. "I don't care if he is," she thought,
with her cheeks crimson; "it's nothing to me. He's a nice boy, and I
want to be amused."
She went to her dresser, took out the large top drawer, and dumped its
contents on the bed. It was a desperate measure, for Ruth hated to put
things in order. The newspaper which had lain in the bottom of it had
fallen out also, and she shook it so violently that she tore it.
Then ribbons, handkerchiefs, stocks, gloves, and collars were
unceremoniously hustled back into the drawer, for Miss Thorne was at
odds with herself and the world. She was angry with Hepsey, she hated
Winfield, and despised herself. She picked up a scrap of paper which lay
on a glove, and caught a glimpse of unfamiliar penmanship.
It was apparently the end of a letter, and the rest of it was gone. "At
Gibraltar for some time," she read, "keeping a shop, but will probably
be found now in some small town on the coast of Italy. Very truly
yours." The signature had been torn off.
"Why, that isn't mine," she thought. "It must be something of Aunt
Jane's." Another bit of paper lay near it, and, unthinkingly, she read a
letter which was not meant for her.
"I thank you from my heart," it began, "for understanding me. I could
not put it into words, but I believe you know. Perhaps you think it is
useless--that it is too late; but if it was, I would know. You have been
very kind, and I thank you."
There was neither date, address, nor signature. The message
stood alone, as absolutely as some far-off star whose light could not
be seen from the earth. Some one understood it--two understood it--the
writer and Aunt Jane.
Ruth put it back under the paper, with the scrap of the other letter,
and closed the drawer with a bang. "I hope," she said to herself, "that
while I stay here I'll be mercifully preserved from finding things that
are none of my business." Then, as in a lightning flash, for an instant
she saw clearly.
Fate plays us many tricks and assumes strange forms, but Ruth knew that
some day, on that New England hill, she would come face to face with a
destiny that had been ordained from the beginning. Something waited for
her there--some great change. She trembled at the thought, but was not
afraid.