At length she examined them and found the sonnets.

They had no heading, but at the foot of each was written the date of composition.
She read them.

Adela's study of poetry had not gone beyond a school-book of selections, with the works of Mrs.Hemans and of Longfellow, and the 'Christian Year.' Hubert's verses she found difficult to understand; their spirit, the very vocabulary, was strange to her.

Only on a second reading did she attain a glimmering of their significance.

Then she folded them again and laid them on the table.
Before going to her bedroom she wrote this letter: 'DEAR MR.