On entering the house of her aunt, she went with unusual haste to her own room, and without waiting to lay aside any of her attire, sat down and opened the letter.

There was scarcely a sign of life while she read, so motionless did she sit, as if pulsation were stilled.

After reading it to the last word she commenced folding up the letter, but her hands, that showed a slight tremor in the beginning, shook so violently before she was done, that the half closed sheet rattled like a leaf in the wind.

Then tears gushed over the letter, falling upon it like rain.
There was no effort on the part of Jessie to repress this wild rush of feeling.

Her heart had its own way for a time.