Who was to do it? There was nobody to
do it but the one witness of the catastrophe now left in the
cottage--Mercy herself.
She lifted the cloak from the chair on which she had placed it,
and took from the pocket the leather letter-case which Grace had
shown to her. The only way of discovering the address to write to
in England was to open the case and examine the papers inside.
Mercy opened the case--and stopped, feeling a strange reluctance
to carry the investigation any farther.
A moment's consideration satisfied her that her scruples were
misplaced. If she respected the case as inviolable, the Germans
would certainly not hesitate to examine it, and the Germans would
hardly trouble themselves to write to England. Which were the
fittest eyes to inspect the papers of the deceased lady--the eyes
of men and foreigners, or the eyes of her own countrywoman?
Mercy's hesitation left her. She emptied the contents of the case
on the table.
That trifling action decided the whole future course of her life.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TEMPTATION.
Some letters, tied together with a ribbon, attracted Mercy's
attention first. The ink in which the addresses were written had
faded with age.
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