Both the newcomers shook hands with Fetzer.
"I'm glad to see you back!"
There was a light, slightly scornful laugh.
"Glad to see me too, Fetzer?"
"I mean you too, Mrs. Lanfair."
Ellen trembled. They had not looked at her, but what would they say when they did? Would not Mrs. Fetzer be astounded? How were explanations to be begun? Should she take a step forward or wait for their eyes to find her? She hoped that she would not cry!
But her anxiety was wasted. Neither Stephen nor Hilda greeted her, unless Hilda's careless "A new housemaid, Fetzer?" could be called a greeting. She spoke as though the matter of a new housemaid was one which concerned her only slightly.
"Yes, Mrs. Lanfair. Ellen Lewis is her name."
At last Stephen nodded absently in her direction. He wore a gray suit like the one he had worn at Ephrata. He moved and spoke more quickly and nervously, and his lower lip twitched occasionally.
"Miss Knowlton and Miss MacVane here?"