These few words were spoken with a smile by each, and a slightly melodramatic gesture, as though each was conscious of a little extravagance.
“You must be glad to get to your old home,” she resumed. “You lived here fifteen, no, sixteen years, you know.”
“Eighteen.”
“So it was. I was sixteen when you left.”
“Never to see you again till I came back,” said Despard, with some mournfulness, looking at the floor.
“And since then all has changed.”
“But I have not,” rejoined Despard, in the same tone.
Mrs. Thornton said nothing for a moment.
“By-the-way, I’ve been reading such a nice book,” she resumed. “It has just come out, and is making a sensation. It would suit you, I know.”
“What is it?”