If it hurt the girl that no notice was ever taken of her letters she still wrote them . Deborah read the letters grimly and then left them in Cyrus 's way . Cyrus would not read them at first ; later on he read them stealthily when Deborah was out of the house . When Joscelyn began to succeed she sent to the old farmhouse papers and magazines containing her photographs and criticisms of her plays and acting . Deborah cut them out and kept them in her upper bureau drawer with Joscelyn 's letters . Once she overlooked one and Cyrus found it when he was kindling the fire . He got the scissors and cut it out carefully . A month later Deborah discovered it between the leaves of the family Bible . But Joscelyn 's name was never mentioned between them , and when other people asked them concerning her their replies were cold and ungracious . In a way they had relented towards her , but their shame of her remained . They could never forget that she was an actress . Once , six years after Joscelyn had left Spring Valley , Cyrus , who was reading a paper by the table , got up with an angry exclamation and stuffed it into the stove , thumping the lid on over it with grim malignity . `` That fool dunno what he 's talking about , '' was all he would say . Deborah had her share of curiosity . The paper was the National Gazette and she knew that their next-door neighbour , James Pennan , took it . She went over that evening and borrowed it , saying that their own had been burned before she had had time to read the serial in it . With one exception she read all its columns carefully without finding anything to explain her husband 's anger . Then she doubtfully plunged into the exception ... a column of `` Stage Notes . '' Halfway down she came upon an adverse criticism of Joscelyn Morgan and her new play . It was malicious and vituperative .
Deborah XXXXX 's old eyes sparkled dangerously as she read it .
Deborah Gazette Joscelyn Morgan Pennan Valley fire first malignity neighbour