"
"I'm not sure all that was strictly necessary," commented Mrs. Carey
with some trepidation.
This was Lemuel Hamilton's letter, dated from the office of the American
Consul in Breslau, Germany.
MY DEAR MISS NANCY,--As your letter to me was a purely
"business" communication I suppose I ought to begin my reply:
"Dear Madam, Your esteemed favor was received on the sixth
inst. and contents noted," but I shall do nothing of the sort.
I think you must have guessed that I have two girls of my own,
for you wrote to me just as if we were sitting together side
by side, like two friends, not a bit as landlord and tenant.
Mother Carey's eyes twinkled. She well knew Nancy's informal epistolary
style, and her facile, instantaneous friendliness!
Every word in your letter interested me, pleased me, touched me.
I feel that I know you all, from the dear mother who sits in
the centre--
"What does he mean by that?"
"I sent him a snap shot of the family."
"_Nancy_! What for?"
"So that he could see what we were like; so that he'd know we were fit
to be lifelong tenants!"
Mrs. Carey turned resignedly to the letter again.
From the dear mother who sits in the centre, to the lovable
little Peter who looks as if he were all that you describe
him! I was about his age when I went to the Yellow House to
spend a few years. Old Granny Hamilton had lived there all her
life, and when my mother, who was a widow, was seized with a
serious illness she took me home with her for a long visit.
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