She is ready for you now.

Can you take your first lesson to-morrow ?" "I--I don't quite know," she hesitated.

"I will tell you a little later.
Where is Hester ?" Hester was in the drawing-room.

She was lying on a sofa before an open window and looking rather haggard and miserable.

She had, in fact, just had a curious talk with Alec which had ended in something like a scene.
As Hester's health grew more frail, her temper became more fierce, and of late there had been times when a certain savagery, concealed with difficulty in her husband's moods, affected her horribly.
This morning she felt a new character in Emily's manner.