"Immediately."
"What will you do with the baby?"
"I will lay her down. She is asleep."
"You'll have to have somebody to look after her. Well, come then, my dear."
Diana followed the old lady, who was half imperative and half impatient. She never forgot that hour in all her life, everything was so new and strange. The windows open towards the water, the fresh salt air coming in, the India matting under her feet, made her feel as if she had got into a new world. The dishes were also in part strange to her, and her only companion fully strange. The good cup of tea she received was almost the only familiar thing, for the very bread was like no bread she had ever seen before. Diana sipped her tea gratefully; all this novelty was the most welcome thing in the world to her overstrained nerves. She sipped her tea as in a dream; the old lady studied her with eyes wide awake and practical.
"Where did Basil pick you up, my dear?"
Diana started a little, looked up, and flushed.
"Where did you come from?"
"From the place where Mr. Masters has been settled these three or four years."
"In the mountains! What sort of people have you got there? More of your sort?"