"Shall I open the locket for you ?" Without speaking, without looking up, she handed the locket to Alban.
He opened it, and offered it to her.

She neither accepted nor refused it: her hands remained hanging over the arms of the chair.

He put the locket on her lap.
The portrait produced no marked effect on Mrs.Rook.Had the date prepared her to see it?
She sat looking at it--still without moving: still without saying a word.

Alban had no mercy on her.

"That is the portrait of Miss Emily's father," he said.