Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/28

 mother and daughter were gone up to their chamber, and since the old woman’s death it was much if Jane had enjoyed one hour of unbroken sleep. She endeavoured to hide these feelings, but Clem, with her Red Indian scent, divined them accurately enough. She hit upon a good idea.

“Go into the next room,” she commanded suddenly, “and fetch the matches off of the mantelpiece. I shall want to go upstairs presently, to see if you’ve scrubbed the bedroom well.”

Jane was blanched; but she rose from her knees at once, and reached a candlestick from above the fireplace. “What’s that for?” shouted Clem, with her mouth full. “You’ve no need of a light to find the mantelpiece. If you’re not off"

Jane hastened from the kitchen. Clem yelled to her to close the door, and she had no choice but to obey. In the dark passage outside there was darkness that might be felt. The child all but fainted with the