When the day of departure should have come the cook was to lock the doors, and the gardener was to close the little gate at the bottom of the garden; and the bonnet and other things were to be removed, and then the mother would declare her purpose.

But in the meantime allusions to that intended return to Folking must be accepted, and listened to with false assent.

It was very grievous, but so it was arranged.

As soon as Hester was in the house the mother felt how much better it would have been to declare to her daughter at once that she was a prisoner;--but it was then too late to alter their proposed plans.
It very nearly came to pass that Hester left her mother on the morning of her arrival.

They had both determined to be cautious, reticent, and forbearing but the difference between them was so vital that reticence was impossible.