"She is very capable, I fancy."
"Very. Entirely too capable."
"She looks sharp," said Miss Emily. It was a long time since I had heard the word so used, but it was very apt. Maggie was indeed sharp. But Miss Emily launched into a general dissertation on servants, and Maggie's sharpness was forgotten.
It was, I think, when she was about to go that I asked her about the telephone.
"Telephone?" she inquired. "Why, no. It has always done very well. Of course, after a heavy snow in the winter, sometimes—"
She had a fashion of leaving her sentences unfinished. They trailed off, without any abrupt break.
"It rings at night."
"Rings?"
"I am called frequently and when I get to the phone, there is no one there."
Some of my irritation doubtless got into my voice, for Miss Emily suddenly drew away and stared at me.