She went back to her guests as steady-faced as ever.

She was quite sure none of them had noticed Mrs.Maxwell's calling her Esther, but her eyes were like a wary animal's as she entered the room, although not a line in her long pale face was unsteady.
The time went on and nobody said, "Why did she call you Esther instead of Jane ?" They seemed as usual.

Mrs.Babcock questioned her sharply about Mrs.
Maxwell--how much property she had and if her daughter had married well.

Amanda never looked in her face, and said nothing, but she was often quiet and engrossed in a new tidy she was knitting.
"They don't suspect," Mrs.Field said to herself.
They were going home the next day but one; she went to bed nearly as secure as she had been for the last three months.

Mrs.Maxwell was to be busy the next day--she had spoken of making pear sauce--she would not be in again.