"He gets so excited," she explained.

She slipped out noiselessly.
It seemed, in spite of its open door, a very silent little house behind its strip of garden.

Joan had the feeling that it was listening.
Suddenly she heard a light step in the passage, and the room door opened.
A girl entered.

She was wearing a large black hat and a black boa round her neck.

Between them her face shone unnaturally white.