She decided that she would gauge what happened by the length of time John stayed.

If he remained only a few minutes it would indicate that there had been a rupture.

If he stayed as long as he usually did, the chances were that Eileen's wit had triumphed as usual.
At twelve o'clock Linda laid her pencils in the box, washed the brushes, and went down the back stairs to the ice chest for a glass of milk.

The living room was still lighted and Linda thought Eileen's laugh quite as gay as she ever had heard it.

Linda closed her lips very tight and slowly climbed the stairs.