She had delivered it before, but it had been apparently little heeded.
'Philip bade me say it was business as kept him from fetchin' yo' hissel'-- business wi' the lawyer, about--about yo'r father.' 'What do they say ?' said Sylvia, suddenly, lifting her bowed head, as though she would read her companion's face in the dim light.
'I dunnot know,' said Hester, sadly.

They were now jolting over the paved streets, and not a word could be spoken.

They were now at Philip's door, which was opened to receive them even before they arrived, as if some one had been watching and listening.

The old servant, Phoebe, the fixture in the house, who had belonged to it and to the shop for the last twenty years, came out, holding a candle and sheltering it in her hand from the weather, while Philip helped the tottering steps of Mrs.Robson as she descended behind.

As Hester had got in last, so she had now to be the first to move.