"It's no good," he heard Jane Holland say, "not eating. I've tried both."
"I," said Laura in a voice that penetrated, "over-eat. Habitually."
"I must go," said Mr. Gunning, "and find my hat and stick." His idea now was that Laura was going to take him for a walk.
Addy Ranger began to talk to Prothero. He liked Addy. She had an amusing face with a long nose and wide lips, restless and cynical. She confided to him the trouble of her life, the eternal difficulty of finding anywhere a permanent job. Addy's dream was permanence.
Then they talked of Laura.
"Do you know what her dream is?" said Addy. "To be able to afford wine, and chicken, and game and things—for him."
"When you think of her work!" said Nina. "It's charming; it's finished, to a point. How on earth does she do it?"
"She sits up half the night to do it," said Prothero; "when he isn't there."
"And it's killing her," said Addy, who had her back to the door.
Mr. Gunning had come in again and he heard her. He gazed at them with a vague sweetness, not understanding what he heard.