"'DEAR FRIEND,--Your letter has made me truly happy, breathing, as it does, expressions of deep and heartfelt affection, of which I have long felt the corresponding sentiments. I shall be happy to receive you in my home as an accepted suitor, and I--'" "Cousin Kate, make her stop--isn't she too bad?" said Cannie, vainly struggling for the possession of the book. "'And I'--let me see, where was I when you interrupted?" went on Marian. "Oh, yes, here-- "'And I am sure that my parents will give their hearty consent to our union. Receive my thanks for your assurances, and believe--'" But Candace had again got hold of the volume, and no one ever learned the end of the letter, or what the lover of this obliging lady was to "believe." "_This_ is what I wanted to ask you about, Cousin Kate," said Candace, when quiet was restored. "The book says:-- "'The signature of a letter should depend upon the degree of familiarity existing between the writer and the person addressed. For instance, in writing to a perfect stranger a lady would naturally use the form,-- Yours truly, Mrs. A. M. Cotterell.'" "Oh! oh!" interrupted Georgie. "Fancy any one signing herself 'Yours truly, Mrs. A. M. Cotterell.' It's awfully vulgar, isn't it mamma?" "That is a very old-fashioned book," observed Mrs. Gray; "still I don't think, even at the time when it was published, that well-bred people used a signature like that. It may not be 'awfully vulgar,' but it certainly is not correct; nothing but the Christian name should ever be used as a signature." "But suppose the person you were writing to did not know whether you were married or not," said Candace. "Then you can add your address below, like this;" and she wrote on the edge of her drawing-paper,-- "Yours truly, "CATHERINE V. GRAY. "MRS. COURTENAY GRAY, "Newport, R. I. That is what I should do if I were writing to a stranger." "Then there is this about the addresses of letters," went on Candace:-- "'In addressing a married lady, use her maiden as well as her married name; for example, in writing to Miss Sarah J. Beebe, who is married to George Gordon, the proper direction would be Mrs. Sarah B. Gordon, Care of George Gordon, Oshkosh, Michigan.' Is that right, Cousin Kate?"