'Thank you; I'm not going back till I hear,' she said proudly.
Time being up, Mark took his leave hastily, and as he shut the door, Nuttie uttered half aloud the words she had scarcely repressed, 'No, I thank you, Mr. Mark, I am not going back like a dog in a string.'
'What, was that what he expected of you?' said Gerard Godfrey, whom she had not intended to hear her, but who had come out of the sitting-room on the sounds of departure.
'He said he would take me home if I could go at once.'
'Wouldn't he have liked it!' exclaimed Gerard.
'It might be the best way,' said Miss Nugent, who had followed young Godfrey.
'Now, Miss Mary,' cried Nuttie, 'as if I could shorten my holiday now that I have it.'
'And I don't see what business he had to call you to account,' said Gerard. 'A stuck-up fellow.'
'Of course all the Egremonts are set against my being here,' said Nuttie.
'I thought the Canon offered to bring you last year,' said Mary gently.