But the weeks were passing and no letter came; in vain she glanced from the window of the bar at the faces which moved by.

Even on Sunday, when she went home for an hour or two, she neither saw nor heard of Kirkwood.

She could not bring herself to ask a question.
Under any circumstances Clara would ill have borne a suspense that irritated her pride, and at present she lived amid conditions so repugnant, that her nerves were ceaselessly strung almost beyond endurance.

Before entering upon this engagement she had formed but an imperfect notion of what would be demanded of her.

To begin with, Mrs.
Tubbs belonged to the order of women who are by nature slave-drivers; though it was her interest to secure Clara for a permanency, she began by exacting from the girl as much labour as could possibly be included in their agreement.