But after answering him she remained leaning negligently against the mantelpiece in the attitude of a resting wayfarer.

She was unhurried.

Her brow was smooth.

The head and shoulders of Mr Verloc were hidden from her by the high side of the sofa.

She kept her eyes fixed on his feet.
She remained thus mysteriously still and suddenly collected till Mr Verloc was heard with an accent of marital authority, and moving slightly to make room for her to sit on the edge of the sofa.
"Come here," he said in a peculiar tone, which might have been the tone of brutality, but was intimately known to Mrs Verloc as the note of wooing.
She started forward at once, as if she were still a loyal woman bound to that man by an unbroken contract.