Thyrza walked home, looking neither to right nor to left. There was a little spot of colour on each cheek which would not melt away. Reaching the room upstairs, she sat down without taking off her things. She ought to have prepared her dinner, but did not think of it, and at length she was startled by hearing a clock strike three.
She ran down to the Grails' room. Gilbert and his mother had just finished their meal. The latter gossiped for a moment, then went out.
'I want you to go somewhere with me,' Gilbert said.
'Yes, I'm quite ready; but—'
'But—'
'I have something to tell you, Gilbert. I wonder whether you'll be cross.'
'When was I cross last, Thyrza?'
'No, but I'm not sure whether I ought to have done something. As I was coming home, I thought I'd walk past the house. When I got there, I thought I'd just go up the passage and look. And that old woman met me, and asked me if it was me that was going to live there. How did she know?'
Gilbert laughed.
'That's more than I can tell.'