Pierre raised the lid with a pathetic gesture, and went out carrying it high in his left hand.
"I wonder what it is?" said Charmian.
All day they had not seen Mrs. Shiffney or her party. They had passed the hours alone in the garden, talking, working, reading, but chiefly discussing Charmian's affairs. And calm had flowed upon Charmian, had enfolded her almost against her will. At the end of the day she had said:
"Susan, you do me more good than anyone I know. I don't understand how it is, but you seem to purify me almost, as a breeze from the sea—when it's calm—purifies a room if you open the window to it."
But now, as she waited for Pierre's return, she felt strung up and excited.
"If it should be Claude come back!" she said.
"Would he ring?" asked Susan.
"No. But he might!"
At this moment a loud murmur of talk was audible in the hall, and then a voice exclaiming:
"Ca ne fait rien! Ca ne fait rien! Laissez moi passer, mon bon!"