His mother got up and came near to him.
“Gilbert! Gilbert!” she whispered, patting his shoulder. “You’d better get to bed, my boy!”
He threw a savage glance at Claudine and walked unsteadily away. The old lady bent over her cherished carpet, regarding the damage with distress.
“Dear! Dear!” she said. “I don’t know....”
She never looked at Claudine, standing behind her, wringing her hands, her teeth chattering with a sort of nervous chill.
“I don’t know!” she said again. “I suppose I’d better leave it so until the morning. Then in the daylight, perhaps....”
As she straightened herself she met the eyes of her daughter-in-law.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Let me stay with you!” cried Claudine.
The old lady looked at her with frigid contempt.