"Oh, that wretched, wretched Zack!" exclaimed Mrs. Blyth, looking
seriously distressed and alarmed, the moment her eyes fell on the first
lines of the letter. "He must be ill indeed," she added, looking
closely at the handwriting; "for he has evidently not written this
himself."
Madonna could not hear these words, but she could see the expression
which accompanied their utterance, and could indicate by a sign her
anxiety to know what had happened. Mrs. Blyth ran her eye quickly over
the letter, and ascertaining that there was nothing in it which Madonna
might not be allowed to read, beckoned to the girl to look over her
shoulder, as the easiest and shortest way of explaining what was the
matter.
"How distressed Valentine will be to hear of this!" thought Mrs. Blyth,
summoning Patty up-stairs by a pull at her bell-rope, while Madonna was
eagerly reading the letter. The housemaid appeared immediately, and was
charged by her mistress to go to Kirk Street at once; and after
inquiring of the landlady about Zack's health, to get a written list of
any comforts he might want, and bring it back as soon as possible. "And
mind you leave a message," pursued Mrs. Blyth, in conclusion, "to say
that he need not trouble himself about money matters, for your master
will come back from the country, either to-morrow or next day.
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