The Interloper by Violet Jacob

THOUGH Barclay had no intention of allowing the letter he carried to / reach its final destination, he could not venture to stop its course / till it had passed Fullarton's hands. He was too much afraid that / Somerville and Fullarton might meet within the next few days. The mail / office should be responsible for its loss, if that loss were ever / discovered; a contingency which he doubted strongly. He found it / exceedingly annoying to be obliged to take this farcical drive on such / a chilly afternoon, but Prudence demanded the sacrifice and he humoured / her, like a wise man. Fordyce's obligations to him were becoming / colossal.

He found Fullarton in his library and explained that he was on his way / home. He had looked in in passing, he said, to ask him to address a / letter which Captain Somerville had given him for Miss Raeburn. He was / rather hurried, and would not send his carriage to the stables; if the / letter were directed at once, he would take it with him and leave it at / the mail office, should it still be open. Robert was not in the humour / either for gossip or business and he was glad to be rid of Barclay so / easily. He took up his pen at once. In five minutes the lawyer was on / his return road to Kaims.