She had evidently not felt herself equal to dealing with a large mass of letters--and she might be daunted by the number of them, if she entered the library later in the day.

I put one of my second set of six letters on the chimney-piece by itself; leaving it to attract her curiosity, by means of its solitary position, apart from the rest.

A second letter I put purposely on the floor in the breakfast-room.

The first servant who went in after me would conclude that my aunt had dropped it, and would be specially careful to restore it to her.

The field thus sown on the basement story, I ran lightly upstairs to scatter my mercies next over the drawing-room floor.
Just as I entered the front room, I heard a double knock at the street-door--a soft, fluttering, considerate little knock.