Mrs. Penrose did not come home for the wedding. Just what she wrote her
mother, the other members of the family never knew. Her letter came
with another, which bore the Bromfield postmark, and the two were on
Lavinia’s plate when she came down to breakfast. David and the girls
were already at the table, and Theo had inspected the mail. Drusilla
had been instructed not to take letters from the box, and the sight
of two thick envelopes threw Lavinia into a nervous chill. She picked
them up and carried them to the sun room, saying she had a headache and
would eat nothing.
After a little, David followed her, distressed. “Is there anything
wrong in Bromfield--at your brother’s house, or with my people?”
“There’s nothing the matter in Bromfield. Sylvia is a cat!”