THE COURTSHIP OF CATHERINE WEST. CHAPTER III. In after-life, when Catherine tried to review the events of that strange summer, although every detail of her stay in Switzerland stood out in startling distinctness, she could never remember anything about the journey home. It seemed to pass in a dream, and she saw, as in a vision, the flitting crowds at the railway stations, the swarms of strange, unknown faces, the gleams of sunlight on field and stream as the train rushed by them, and at last the sea and the white cliffs of England again. Ten days had changed her from an eager, impulsive girl to a mature woman, self-reliant, not only in intention, but in fact. The well-known approach to her old rooms convinced her of the reality of things. “And now,” she thought, “for the old life, with its ordinary cares and business. Well, it has to be endured.” But her anticipations were destined to be falsified. Her landlady met her with mingled relief and surprise. A letter had come that morning marked “Immediate.” She had not known where to send it, but now Miss West had come it would be off her mind. “A letter for me!” cried Catherine, her thoughts at once rushing to Granville and Margaret, and then immediately reduced to order by a little common sense. “I so seldom have any letters, surely you must be mistaken.” But no, the letter was there, a large square envelope, sealed with a heavy crest. She opened it with a good deal of curiosity, and read:— “The Parade, St. John’s. “DEAR NIECE,—You probably never heard of your aunt, or rather your father’s aunt, Cicely. He and I quarrelled before you were born, and I never had any communication with him afterwards. But I have just discovered that I am suffering from an incurable complaint and have not many months to live, and it has come upon me that I should like to see you, and be reconciled to you as his representative. As soon, therefore, as you receive this I beg of you to come to me. I will, of course, defray all your expenses, and will see that you are met at the station. Telegraph the time of your arrival. “Yours sincerely, “CICELY WEST.”