蓝色列车之谜7

Chapter 7  LETTERS ,"Mrs Samuel Harfield presents her compliments to Miss Katherine Grey and wishes to point out that under the circumstances Miss Grey may not be aware -" ,Mrs Harfield, having written so far fluently, came to a dead stop, held up by what has proved an insuperable difficulty to many other people - namely, the difficulty of expressing oneself fluently in the third person. ,After a minute or two of hesitation, Mrs Harfield tore up the sheet of notepaper and started afresh. ,"Dear Miss Grey, ,Whilst fully appreciating the adequate way you discharged your duties to my Cousin Emma (whose recent death has indeed been a ,Again Mrs Harfield came to a stop. Once more the letter was consigned to the wastepaper-basket. ,It was not until four false starts had been made that Mrs Harfield at last produced an epistle that satisfied her. It was duly sealed and stamped and addressed to Miss Katherine Grey, Little Crampton, St Mary Mead, Kent, and it lay beside that lady's plate on the following morning at breakfast-time in company with a more important looking communication in a long blue envelope. ,Katherine Grey opened Mrs Harfield's letter first. The finished production ran as follows: ,"Dear Miss Grey, ,My husband and I wish to express our thanks to you for your services to my poor cousin, Emma. Her death has been a great blow to us, though we were, of course, aware that her mind has been failing for some time past. I understand that her latter testamentary dispositions have been of a most peculiar character, and they would not hold good, of course, in any court of law. I have no doubt that, with your usual good sense, you have already realized this fact. If these matters can be arranged privately it is always so much better, my husband says. We shall be pleased to recommend you most highly for a similar post and hope that you will also accept a small present. Believe me, dear Miss Grey, yours cordially, ,