The Carringtons?
Well, she would see; and now she had a very definite point upon which to consult Mr.Carrington.That helped her, and she went, quietly and unseen as she had come.
There was still a light in the ground-floor windows of the Tite Street house, strong lights and voices; it was the dining-room, for the Minchins had dined there once; and the voices did not include a feminine one that Rachel could perceive.

If there were people dining with them, the ladies must have gone upstairs, and Mrs.Carrington was the woman to see Rachel for five minutes, and the one woman in England to whom she could turn.

It was an opportunity not to miss--she had not the courage to let it pass--and yet it required almost as much to ring the bell.

And even as she rang--but not until that moment--did Rachel recognize and admit to herself the motive which had brought her to that door.

It was not to obtain the advice of a clever man; it was the sympathy of another woman that she needed that night more than anything else in all the world.
She was shown at once into the study behind the dining-room, and immediately the voices in the latter ceased.