3. AFTERNOONThe letter was brought to Owen Graye, the same afternoon, by one
of the vicar's servants who had been to the box with a duplicate
key, as usual, to leave letters for the evening post. The man found
that the index had told falsely that morning for the first time
within his recollection; but no particular attention was paid to
the mistake, as it was considered. The contents of the envelope
were scrutinized by Owen and flung aside as useless.
The next morning brought Springrove's second letter, the
existence of which was unknown to Manston. The sight of Edward's
handwriting again raised the expectations of brother and sister,
till Owen had opened the envelope and pulled out the twig and
verse.
'Nothing that's of the slightest use, after all,' he said to
her; 'we are a
