“I am wasting my time,” she thought. “For Easter is nearly upon us; there is much to do at the church.” But it was not possible to go home after waiting so long, and at last she set off along the road to Linton. A mile was covered before it occurred to her that Richard would be driving with his father, and that even if Mr. Sotheby should pull up it would be difficult for them to speak in front of him, and she turned back and walked to the village at top speed.
All seemed well, for she had not passed them on the road, and she determined once more to enter the shop, but it occurred to her, as she approached, that Rachel would be coming out of school in a few minutes: it was just twelve o’clock.
As she turned the corner by the schoolhouse, she noticed the strange ring deeply cut into the earth and full of dust, and wondered again what game the children played there.
Soon the door opened and the children began to run out. “In this riot I shall not be able to speak to Rachel,” Anne said to herself. “But if I walk back towards the shop she may walk another way.”
“A lovely morning, Miss Dunnock,” said a voice behind her, and she turned to find Mr. Lambert.
The moments spent talking to him were agonizing, for every instant she expected to see Rachel run past her, but Mr. Lambert would not be hurried. Soon he began to speak of Easter, and the arrangements at the church, for he was a churchwarden, and when that subject was exhausted he returned to the weather.
“One is happy to be alive on such a morning, Miss Dunnock; I envy you your leisure to enjoy it. Free as air, Miss Dunnock, and no one to call your master. Work is my master. This weather keeps us very busy.”
“Impertinent puppy,” said Anne to herself, though as a matter of fact she rather liked Mr. Lambert, and saw nothing impertinent in his manners.
At the very moment when Mr. Lambert released her she heard Rachel’s voice saying: “Good morning, Miss Dunnock,” and the little girl ran by her with two or three other children. Anne saw that it was useless to wait any longer, and returned to the vicarage; there was nothing to be angry about, nobody was at fault.
“There was this note left for you. Rachel Sotheby brought it over,” said Maggie when she went into the kitchen, and Anne thought the girl’s grin was an impertinence too.