Although not specifically stated, it seems clear that this letter to Maria Maher, "a first rate servant" girl who had "served us [the Ewings] so long and so well," addressed her unfortunate condition--becoming pregnant out of wedlock. She was sent to the Catholic charitable institution in St. Louis and advised to seek legal assistance from a particular attorney there "if the young man will not honorably fulfil his promise. . . . If the young man means to marry you, he will do it at once."