She was afterwards to observe that this messenger, unintelligent or inadvertent, had removed but one of the volumes, which happened not to be the first.

Still possessed, accordingly, of the first while Charlotte, going out, fantastically, at such an hour, to cultivate romance in an arbour, was helplessly armed with the second, Maggie prepared on the spot to sally forth with succour.

The right volume, with a parasol, was all she required--in addition, that is, to the bravery of her general idea.

She passed again through the house, unchallenged, and emerged upon the terrace, which she followed, hugging the shade, with that consciousness of turning the tables on her friend which we have already noted.

But so far as she went, after descending into the open and beginning to explore the grounds, Mrs.Verver had gone still further--with the increase of the oddity, moreover, of her having exchanged the protection of her room for these exposed and shining spaces.