Louisa stumbled into the portrait hole and balanced herself quickly scowling back. She had her bag full of books on her shoulder and carrying it from the library till the Owlery and then over here was no picnic.
She walked over to an empty armchair and threw herself there. She had her head back for a second to gather her thoughts and then got the letter out and folded in front of her while reading it again.
Her eyes were full of tears again as she re-read it, she folded it and tucked it in her bag before wiping away what was in her eyes. Why didn't her mother write? And how did she go out of town when Johnny was 'ill' ? That didn't make sense to her and only made her worry even more.