He had come to inquire after Martha.
She met him at the porch entrance, and led him into the drawing-room, without a word of welcome.

Then shutting the door, she motioned him to a seat opposite her own on the sofa.

The calm, determined way with which this was done--so unusual in one so cordial--startled him.

He felt that something of momentous interest, and, judging from Jane's face, of serious import, had happened.

He invariably took his cue from her face, and his own spirits always rose or fell as the light in her eyes flashed or dimmed.
"Is there anything the matter ?" he asked nervously.