Sherwood Smith Quote

My spirits were so glum I almost overlooked the two letters waiting on my writing table.When I did see them, my heart gave one of those painful thumps, and I wondered if these were letters of rejection. The top one had my name written out in a bold, slanting hand, with flourishing letter-ends and underlining. I pulled it open.Named were several people, all of whom I knew, and it ended with a promise of undying admiration. It was signed Could it be an elaborate joke, with me as the butt, as a kind of revenge for my social lapse? I reread the note several times, dismissing automatically the caressing tone--I knew it for more of his flirtatious style. Finally I realized that I did not see Tamara’s name among the guests, though just about all of the others had been at the party the night before.A cold sensation washed through me. I had the feeling that if anyone was being made a butt, it was not Meliara Astiar, social lapse notwithstanding.I turned to the next letter and was glad to see the plain script of my Unknown:And it ended there. Two utterly unexpected communications. The only facts that seemed certain were that the Unknown had been at that party and like Savona (maybe it was he?) had sat up very late penning this letter. Or both letters.I needed very much to think these things out.