Marianne may have known she looked white, and wished for darkness to hide it, for she blew both candles out, and returned to her seat with her back to the window. The cat sighed, as lamenting the selfishness of mortals, and resumed her old place, now again available, with a pretence of magnanimity.
"I shall copy that letter on a clean sheet, and send it." The darkness seemed to give the speaker fortitude.
"Go your own way, dear! I've done my best." Mrs. Eldridge claimed freedom from responsibility.
"You know, I suppose, that I spoke to mamma about that Steptoe nonsense—the photograph?"
"No, I didn't. What did she say?"
"Said it was all sheer impossibility. Said Steptoe had been turning the cupboards over when we were away at Easter, and cooked it all up."
"That won't do us any good. How did Steptoe know the name of the coal-merchant?"
"Saw it on the back of the photo, mamma says."
"And how did she know the name Verrall?"
"Because it's Bob's second name. Besides, it's on a brass plate on Kate's old portmanteau in the trunk-room."