Sitting there in doubt, half hearing what might be dreadful to hear, was worse than certainty.

She had at once a benumbing terror and a fierce desire that her mother should be betrayed, and withal a sudden impulse of loyalty toward her, a feeling that she would stand by her when everybody else turned against her.
She crept in and sat down.

Mrs.Maxwell was talking to Mrs.Babcock about the state of the church in Elliot.

It was wonderful that this call was made without exposure, but it was.

Twice Mrs.Maxwell called Jane Field "Esther," but nobody noticed it except Amanda, and she said nothing.