I want--" the Duchess did not explain what she wanted but she pointed to a small square ottoman which would place Robin almost at her knee.

Her own early training had been of the statelier Victorian type and it was not easy for her to deal freely with outward expression of emotion.

And here emotion sprang at her throat, so to speak, as she watched this childish thing with the frightened doe's eyes.

The girl had been an inmate of her house for months; she had been kind to her and had become fond of her, but they had never reached even the borders of intimacy.
And yet emotion had seized upon her and they were in the midst of strange and powerful drama.
Robin did as she was told.

It struck the Duchess that she always did as she was told and she spoke to her hoping that her voice was not ungentle.
"Don't look at me as if you were afraid.