Sir George drew back, holding firmly to the paper.

She followed him frantically, not to be thrown off, and succeeded in clutching the letter.
Sir George violently thrust her from him.

In the scuffle that ensued the letter was torn, and the lower portion of the sheet remained in Dorothy's hand.

She ran to the fireplace, intending to thrust the fragment into the fire, but she feared that her father might rescue it from the ashes.

She glanced at the piece of paper, and saw that the part she had succeeded in snatching from her father bore John's name.