But from the moment that Marcella had come home from the village that morning, a pale, hollow-eyed wreck, the mother had asserted her authority.

She would not hear of the girl's crossing the threshold again; she had put her on the sofa and dosed her with sal-volatile.

And Marcella was too exhausted to rebel.

She had only stipulated that a note should be sent to Aldous, asking him to come on to Mellor with the news as soon as the verdict of the coroner's jury should be given.

The jury had been sitting all day, and the verdict was expected in the evening.
Marcella turned over her letters till she came to one from a London firm which contained a number of cloth patterns.