"Oh, Robert stopped having his pictures taken when he had to pay forthem himself! He found wiser use for his money, he says," explained Madame Lebrun.She had a letter from him, written before he left New Orleans.Edna wished to see the letter, and Madame Lebrun told her to look for it either on the table or the dresser, or perhaps it was on the mantelpiece.
The letter was on the bookshelf.It possessed the greatest interest and attraction for Edna; the envelope, its size and shape, the post-mark, the handwriting.She examined every detail of the outside before opening it.There were only a few lines, setting forth that he would leave the city that afternoon, that he had packed his trunk in good shape, that he was well, and sent her his love and begged to be affectionately remembered to all.There was no special message to Edna except a postscript saying that if Mrs.Pontellier desired to finish the book which he had been reading to her, his mother would find it in his room, among other books there on the table.Edna experienced a pang of jealousy because he had written to his mother rather than to her.