Mumford, too well aware that yet another disturbance had come upon his unhappy household, affected to read, and it was only when the door of Louise's room had closed that Emmeline spoke to him.
'Mrs.Higgins will breakfast by herself to-morrow,' she said severely.

'She may perhaps go before lunch; but in any case we shall not sit down at table with her again.' 'All right,' Mumford replied, studiously refraining from any hint of curiosity.
So, next morning, their breakfast was served in the library.

Mrs.
Higgins came down at the usual hour, found the dining-room at her disposal, and ate with customary appetite, alone.

Had Emmeline's experience lain among the more vigorously vulgar of her sex she would have marvelled at Mrs.Higgins's silence and general self-restraint during these last hours.

Louise's mother might, without transgressing the probabilities of the situation, have made this a memorable morning indeed.