Page:Lolly Willowes - 1926.djvu/216

 when he expressed the hope that she felt none the worse for it, he spoke without servility or covert amusement.

"I liked it very much," said Laura. Her regard for truth made her add: "Particularly when it began to be light. I was growing rather bored before then."

"Some ladies would feel afraid," said he.

"I'm not afraid when I'm alone," she answered. "I lived in the country when I was a girl."

He bowed his head assentingly. Something in his manner implied that he knew this already. Perhaps he had heard about her in the village.

"It's pleasant to be in the country again," she continued. "I like Great Mop very much."

"I hope you will stay here, Miss Willowes."

"I hope so too."

She spoke a little sadly. In this unaccustomed hour her soul was full of doubts. She wondered if, having flouted the Sabbath, she were still a witch, or whether, her power being taken from her, she would become the prey of a healthy and untroubled Titus. And being faint for want of food and want of sleep, she foreboded the worst.