Hadria went into the house by the open window of the drawing-room. She sank back on the sofa; a blackness came before her eyes.
“No, no, I won’t, I won’t. Let me learn not to let things overpower me, in future.”
When Valeria entered, dressed for dinner, she found Hadria, deadly pale, standing against the sofa, whose arm she was grasping with both hands, as if for dear life. Valeria rushed forward.
“Good heavens, Hadria! are you going to faint?”
“No,” said Hadria, “I am not going to faint, if there is such a thing as human will.”
CHAPTER XLV.
THE morning had passed as usual, but household arrangements at the Cottage had required much adjustment, one of the maids being ill. She had been sent away for a rest, and the difficulty was to find another. Mary went from the Red House as substitute, in the mean time, and the Red House became disorganised.
“You look distracted with these little worries, Hadria. I should have said that some desperate crisis was hanging over you, instead of merely a domestic disturbance.” Valeria was established on the lawn, with a book.
“I am going to seek serenity in the churchyard,” explained Hadria.