CHAPTER III “WHY?”
––––––––
THROUGH THE SILENT house echoed the vibration of the electric bell, sounding unnecessarily loud, it seemed. The maid who answered took the caller’s card to Miss Mary Carwell, Viola’s aunt.
“He wants to see Miss Viola,” the servant reported. “Shall I tell her?”
“You had better, yes. She went to lie down, but she will want to see Captain Poland. Wait, I’ll tell her myself. Where is he?”
“In the library, ma am.
“Very well. I’ll see him.”
Mr. Carwell’s sister literally swept down the stairs, her black silk dress rustling somberly and importantly. She was a large woman, and her bearing and air were in keeping.
“It was very good of you to come,” she murmured, as she sank, with more rustling and shimmering, into a chair, while the captain waited for her to be s
