Stella's eyes danced with excitement as she read in the morning's paper the announcement of his withdrawal of this suit. The news was accompanied by a brief statement which might have been written as a personal apology to her for the language he had used.
"I beg leave to say to the public in withdrawing this action that I regret the overheated language in which the original complaint was expressed."
Without a moment's hesitation she seized her pen and wrote him an invitation to call. Her words revealed the deeply laid scheme on which her mind had seized in a flash of inspiration. She read and reread it carefully:
My Dear Mr. Graham:
Permit me to thank you for the manly words of retraction which you have used in this morning's paper. Your withdrawal of this suit and the generous manner in which it was done, removes the only barrier to our friendly acquaintance. I wish to renew it, and ask you to please accept at once the position of my personal attorney in the settlement of my father's estate. Your influence in the courts of North Carolina, your eloquence and genius will be of invaluable service to an orphan girl who needs the advice of one on whose integrity she can absolutely rely.
Trusting that you may honour me by answering this request in person at three o'clock this afternoon,
