Page:Richard Marsh--The goddess a demon.djvu/144



girl was changed. I perceived it as soon as I was in Mrs. Peddar's room. She stood behind the table, and, as I entered, turned her face away. Her attitude suggested doubt, hesitation, even shame. It was so different to the spontaneous burst of friendship which, hitherto, when she saw me, had brought her to my side.

Miss Adair was seated with her hands lying open on her knee; in her bearing there was also dubiety, and in Mrs. Peddar's as, leaning against her sideboard, she fidgeted with the fringe of her black apron. The air was so charged with the spirit of uncertainty that, as soon as I entered, it affected me. We each of us seemed to be unwilling to meet the other's glances. It was with an effort I broke the uncomfortable silence. "I don't think, Miss Moore, that I should lose any time in going home with Miss Adair."

"Going home? Where is my home? Yes, 132