And it was this latter mood that fell on her, swift and entire, when, looking out from her window a little before dinner-time, she saw suddenly his hat, and Cecily's head, jerking up the steep path that led to the house.
She fell on her knees by her bedside.
"Jesu!" she cried.

"Jesu! Give me strength to meet him." * * * * * Mrs.Manners, too, hearing the horse's footsteps on the pavement a minute later, and Marjorie's steps going downstairs, also looked forth and saw him dismounting.

She was a prudent woman, and did not stir a finger till she heard the bell ringing in the court for the dinner to be served.

They would have time, so she thought, to arrange their attitudes.
And, indeed, she was right: for it was two quiet enough persons who met her as she came down into the hall: Robin flushed with riding, yet wholly under his own command--bright-eyed, and resolute and natural (indeed, it seemed to her that he was more of a man than she had thought him).

And her daughter, too, was still and strong; a trifle paler than she should be, yet that was to be expected.