The stranger murmured something to herself, and Anstice caught the words: "May I be preserved from being like him in any way."
And then with a flash of intuition, Anstice guessed who she might be. But she said nothing.
Farewells were said, and then Anstice and Ruffie turned homewards.
"It is too late to go on farther to-day," Anstice said. "As it is, we shall be late for tea. What did you talk to that lady about, darling?"
Ruffie told her as much of the conversation as he could remember.
Anstice was very quiet on the way home. She wondered if it would have been best to ask for the stranger's name.
"But then she might have refused to give it to me," she told herself; "she evidently did not wish us to recognize her. I am glad she has met her nephew. It may do good. I hope it will. I shall tell Justin about it when he comes home. If I write to him about it, he will ignore it, and we shall be no 'forrarder.'"
BOOK III
LOVERS