There was a short silence, and then came the sound of the shutting of the front door.

Marty had actually gone.
Vincent did not even open his eyes when Miss Gregory returned; he did not exert himself to ask how his message had been received.

Adelaide waited an instant, and then went back to Mrs.Baxter with a strange sense of having sustained a small personal defeat.
Mrs.Baxter was so thoroughly ruffled that she was prepared to attack even the sacrosanct Adelaide.

But she was not given the chance.
"Well, how did Marty treat you ?" said Adelaide.
Mrs.Baxter sniffed.
"We had not very much in common," she returned.
"No; Marty's a very real person." There was a pause.

"What became of him?
Did he go ?" "Yes, your husband's trained nurse gave him a message, and he went away." "Quietly ?" The note of disappointment was so plain that Mrs.Baxter asked in answer: "What would you have wanted him to do ?" Adelaide laughed.
"I suppose it would have been too much to expect that he would drag you and Miss Gregory about by your hair," she said, "but I own I should have liked some little demonstration.