I held myself in some way bound to her and -- was she not my ideal ? Undoubtedly ! One day I got a letter from my sister . It was long and newsy , and the eighth page was most interesting . `` If you do n't come home and look after Nellie , '' wrote Kate , `` you 'll soon not have her to look after . You remember that old lover of hers , Rod Allen ? Well , he 's home from the west now , immensely rich , they say , and his attentions to Nellie are the town talk . I think she likes him too . If you bury yourself any longer at Ashley Mills I wo n't be responsible for the consequences . '' This lifted an immense weight from my mind , but the ninth page hurled it back again . `` You never say anything of Miss Ashley in your letters . What is she like -- young or old , ugly or pretty , clever or dull ? I met a lady recently who knows her and thinks she is charming . She also said Miss Ashley was to be married soon to Rev. Something-or-Other . Is it true ? '' Aye , was it ? Quite likely . Kate 's letter made a very miserable man of me . Gussie found me a dull companion that day . After several vain attempts to rouse me to interest she gave it up .
`` There 's no use talking to you , '' she XXXXX impatiently .
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