She would mend her ways, give up the drink which was killing her, and take her proper position, with a fine house and servants.

With a fatuous obstinacy in her sodden brain, she decided not to lose a minute, but to go and surprise Jonah with her noble resolutions.
She got to her feet, and saw the brandy bottle.

Ah! Jonah must not know that she had been drinking, and with the last conscious act of her clouded brain she staggered into the sitting-room and hid the bottle under the cushions of the sofa.

Then, conscious of nothing but her resolve, she lurched to the top of the stairs.

It was nearly dark, and she felt for the railing, but the weight of her body sent an atrocious pain through her leg, and to ease it she took a step forward to put her weight on the other.