Mrs. Singleton herself opened the door.
"I saw you coming," she greeted him, "and there is nobody at home but
me."
Maurice tried not to look disappointed.
"Then Mrs. Ashe is not at home?"
"No; she is out, and the girl is out. Will you come in? You probably
didn't come to see me."
"But I did come to see you."
She led the way into the long, low sitting-room, with its many doors
and its wide fireplace, so familiar that he might have left it
yesterday.
"I can't imagine what you want of me," Mrs. Singleton said, waving her
hand toward a chair. "The last time I saw you you didn't seem very fond
of me."
She seated herself by the side of the fire in a great old-fashioned
chair covered with chintz and spreading out wings on either side of her
head.
"You are still angry, Alice, I see," he rejoined. "Well, I can't help
that. I did what was right. How in the world could you make up your
mind to fool those people so?"
"They wanted to be fooled; why not oblige them?"
He regarded her with astonishment. He had expected her to deny that her
deception was deliberate, to claim that the manifestations were real.
Pages:
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472