'Have you not brought me some clothes on the chance that I choose to remain here?' she said.
'That is the last thing I should have thought of doing, dearest.'
'Why have you come, then? Dinah one way, you the other, just to make a useless fuss.'
'She did not know I could get here.'
'How did you? Who brought you?'
'Mr. Borlase. We drove.'
'Prissy said so. Her sight is ridiculously good. I could only see the twinkling of wheels in the sun. Is he gone? Will you go back with Dinah?'
'Oh Clothilde, don't talk so coldly. With you and Dinah?'
Her voice was low, little more than a whisper, but she managed to make it clear and confident. She always trusted to her instincts in dealing with Mrs. Severn. Simple straightforward decision in the course resolved on was of little use if allowed to be felt as decisive. Mrs. Severn's opinion was generally reversed by the acquiescence of others, and her egotism was so baffling that it was impossible to feel certain of anything making the desired impression, unless advanced for the sake of being contradicted.
She did not answer now, but turned and looked across the marsh to the cottage. The sun beat fiercely on her head. She raised one hand and pressed it flat above her brow. But the shelter was insufficient.