Here Vermeer has chosen an unusual vantage point. From the depths of a shadowy space, we are given a glimpse of a room. A richly clad woman has momentarily ceased her music-making for a letter that has just been handed to her. She looks up expectantly at the servant girl. The subject of the letter could be related to the seascape behind the two women. In the 17th century the sea was often compared to love, and the lover to a ship.