"Yes, let's have a do in the common-room."
"After all, it's a sort of communal honour. A decoration for Leys."
"Arlinghurst! Who'd have believed it?"
"Arlinghurst!"
Lucy wondered if the meek little secretary's indiscretion had been prompted by the knowledge that the news was about to be made public. Even the cautious and secretive Henrietta could not sit on such a piece of information much longer; if for no other reason than that Arlinghurst would be expecting an answer. Lucy supposed that Henrietta had been waiting until the «bad» week was over before providing her sensation; she could not help feeling that it was a very neat piece of timing.
As she walked along the corridor to her cell at the end, she met Innes, buttoning herself into a fresh cotton frock.
"Well," said Lucy, "it seems to have been a successful afternoon."
"The row, you mean?" Innes said. "Yes, we won. But the row is not a war chant. It's a paean of praise that they will never have to live this week again."
Lucy noticed how unconsciously she had used the word "they." She wondered for a moment at the girl's calm. Had she, possibly, not yet heard about the Arlinghurst vacancy? And then, as Innes moved from the dimness of the corridor into the light from Dakers' wide-open door, Lucy saw the radiance on her face. And her own heart turned over in sympathy. That was how it felt, was it? Like seeing Heaven opened.
" You look happy, anyhow," she said, falling back on bald platitude since there were no words to describe what was shining in Innes's eyes.