MY DEAR MISS VAVASOR,
I have not the pleasure of knowing you personally, though I have heard of you very often from our dear mutual friend and relative Lady Macleod, with whom I understand that you are at present on a visit. Your grandmother,--by the mother's side,--Lady Flora Macleod, and my mother the Countess of Leith, were half-sisters; and though circumstances since that have prevented our seeing so much of each other as is desirable, I have always remembered the connection, and have ever regarded you as one in whose welfare I am bound by ties of blood to take a warm interest.
"'Since that!'--what does she mean by 'since that'?" said Alice to herself. "She has never set eyes on me at all. Why does she talk of not having seen as much of me as is desirable?"

My dear Miss Vavasor,
I have not the pleasure of knowing you personally, though I have heard of you often from our dear mutual friend and relative Lady Macleod. Your grandmother Lady Flora Macleod, and my mother the Countess of Leith, were half-sisters; and though circumstances have prevented our seeing each other, I have always regarded you as one in whose welfare I am bound by ties of blood to take a warm interest.
