There was a slight scuffle, and voices outside.

Marcella drew the curtain close with a hasty hand, and sat down hardly able to breathe.

The woman who had looked in was Isabella Westall.

It was said that she was becoming more and more difficult to manage and to watch.
Marcella was some time in recovering herself.

That look, as of a sleepless, hateful eagerness, clung to the memory.