And a year is a long time.

She came slowly downstairs to the drawing-room where her aunt was dozing and dreaming in her chair.

There still hung about her figure the indefinable dignity that had awed Miss Cursiter.

If she was afraid of Mrs.Moon she was too proud to show her fear.
"This morning," she said simply, "I received my dismissal." The old lady looked up dazed, not with the news but with her dream.

Miss Quincey repeated her statement.
"Do you mean you are not going back to that place there ?" she asked mildly.
"I am never going back." Still with dignity she waited for the burst of feeling she felt to be justifiable in the circumstances.