SAT Reading: Literary Prose Excerpt

Eleanor lingered by the parlor threshold, intent upon the raindrops striking the window panes. The shadowed manor possessed a peculiar hush, laden with a solemnity that was intentional. She adjusted her woolen shawl, pondering the epistle resting upon the polished cedar credenza—a dispatch bearing no definitive assurances, though it threatened to reshape her fortune. Beyond the windowpane, the gravel entryway crumbled into soggy mud. A faint rustle made her swivel around, but it was merely moving air stirring the weighty tapestries. She hung back, conscious that advancing further would mean acknowledging a reality she had privately evaded.