Kapitel 57: Chapter 57

Mother reached out her hand and touched his. They were not a demonstrative couple, and it was a measure of their distress that they did so in my presence.

I dropped my gaze back to the missive.

Believe me when I tell you that I am beyond devastated. I cannot lay charges against the man involved, as the young person I had once considered my son is of legal age. Even in the event that he was underage, such an action would drag my name through the gutter, and I willnot permit that…

“The rest of this sentence is illegible.”

Father shrugged. “Haynsworth’s handwriting is undistinguished at the best of times. His request for your sister’s hand…”

“He actually wrote to you? My God, he doesbelieve we live in the eighteenth century!” But this wasn’t due to his handwriting. I wondered at the ragethat had caused him to gouge his words so that the paper tore. Was it simply his choler getting the better of him? I shook my head and resumed reading.