The Wrong Letter Changes Everything — The Blue Castle

Valancy returns to Trent in Port Lawrence as Mrs. Snaith, transformed and married, to get the medical clearance she needs. The doctor does not recognize her at first and insists he told her nothing serious was wrong. She forces him to read his own letter and the truth erupts: he mixed up two envelopes on the train after his son was injured. The fatal diagnosis meant for lonely Miss Jane Sterling of Port Lawrence went to Valancy; Miss Sterling received the reassuring letter instead and died two months later without learning the truth.

Valancy admits she believed she was dying, never consulted another physician, and built her entire year of freedom on that mistake. Trent explains she had pseudo-angina, likely cleared by the shock of joy when Barney came home from the storm, and begs forgiveness for inflicting what he imagines was misery. Valancy thinks bitterly that his error also bought her happiness she is now paying for with guilt. After an examination confirms she is fit and may live to be a hundred, she leaves in silence, looking as wretched as if he had sentenced her to death.

Trent assumes she married badly and regrets learning she is healthy. He never learns that the mistake freed her before guilt convinced her the marriage was built on fraud.