He was admitted to a very cosy room, where, amid books and pictures, and by a large fire, the lady of the house sat reading.
Whatever the cause, it seemed to him that his welcome fell short of cordiality, and he hastened to excuse himself for intruding at so early an hour.
'I received a letter last night which I thought you had better know of without delay.' 'From that man--Mr.Wager ?' said Mrs.Abbott quickly and hopefully, her face brightening.
'Yes.

But there's nothing satisfactory in it.

He writes from Liverpool, and merely says that the children are at his lodgings, and he can do no more for them.' Mrs.Abbott set her lips in an expression almost of sullenness.

Rolfe had never seen her look thus, but it confirmed a suspicion which he had harboured concerning her.

Why, he hardly knew--for she always presented a face of amiability, and talked in gentle, womanly tones--doubt as to Abbott's domestic felicity haunted his mind.