Miss Severance went back and sat down.

She took a long breath; her heart returned to its normal movement.
Yet, for some unexplained reason, the fact that the door-bell had rung once made it more possible that it would ring again, and she began to feel a slight return of confidence.
A servant opened the door, and in the instant before she turned her head she had time to debate the possibility of a visitor having come in without ringing while the messenger with the striped box was going out.
But, no; Pringle was alone.
Pringle had been with the family since her mother was a girl, but, like many red-haired men, he retained an appearance of youth.

He wanted to know if he should take away the tea.
She knew perfectly why he asked.

He liked to have the tea-things put away before he had his own supper and began his arrangements for the family dinner.

She felt that the crisis had come.
If she said yes, she knew that her visitor would come just as tea had disappeared.