For some reason she was feeling a little afraid of Max.
Yet on the following morning, so casual was his greeting that she felt oddly vexed with him as well as with herself, and was even glad when Violet sauntered down late as usual and claimed his attention.

Violet, it seemed, had decided to ignore his decidedly arbitrary treatment of her.

She had also apparently given up smoking, for she made no further reference to her vanished cigarettes, a piece of docility over which Olga, who had known her intimately for some years, marvelled much.
She was obliged to leave her that afternoon to go to tea with an old patient of her father's who lived at the other end of the parish, Violet firmly refusing at the last moment to accompany her thither.

Nick had promised to coach the boys at cricket practice that day, and Olga departed with a slight feeling of uneasiness and a determination to return as early as possible.
It was not, however, easy to curtail her visit.

The patient was a garrulous old woman, and Olga was kept standing on the point of departure for a full half-hour.