'We met Mr. Twemlow on the marsh, mother, walking from Oldcastle to Bursley,' said Ethel, after the ritual of greeting, 'and so we brought him in.'
As Leonora was on the point of leaving the house, the situation was somewhat awkward, and a slight hesitation on her part showed this.
'You're going out?' he said.
'Oh, mamma,' Milly cried quickly, 'do let me go and meet father instead of you. I want to.'
'What, alone?' Leonora exclaimed in a kind of dream.
'I'll go too,' said Ethel.
'And suppose you have the horse down?'
'Well then, we'll take Carpenter,' Milly suggested. 'I'll run and tell him to put his overcoat on and put the back-seat in.' And she scampered off.
Twemlow was fondling the dog with an air of detachment.
In the fraction of an instant, a thousand wild and disturbing thoughts swept through Leonora's brain. Was it possible that Arthur Twemlow had suggested this change of plan to the girls? Or had the girls already noticed with the keen eyes of youth that she and Arthur Twemlow enjoyed each other's society, and naïvely wished to give her pleasure? Would Arthur Twemlow, but for the accidental encounter on the Marsh, have passed by her home without calling? If she remained, what conclusion could not be drawn? If she persisted in going, might not he want to come with her? She was ashamed of the preposterous inward turmoil.