"Will your mother be gone to bed?" he asked.
"She may be. I hope not."
They hurried along the silent, dark little street, the only people out of doors. Clara quickly entered the house. He hesitated.
"Come in," she said.
He leaped up the step and was in the room. Her mother appeared in the inner doorway, large and hostile.
"Who have you got there?" she asked.
"It's Mr. Morel; he has missed his train. I thought we might put him up for the night, and save him a ten-mile walk."
"H'm!" exclaimed Mrs. Radford. "That's your look-out! If you've invited him, he's very welcome as far as I'm concerned. You keep the house!"
"If you don't like me, I'll go away again," he said.