No. Nothing's been touched," said Katharine. "Everything's exactly the
same." But as she said this, with a decision which seemed to make it
imply that more than the sofa was unchanged, she held out a cup
into which she had forgotten to pour any tea. Being told of her
forgetfulness, she frowned with annoyance, and said that Cassandra was
demoralizing her. The glance she cast upon them, and the resolute way in
which she plunged them into speech, made William and Cassandra feel
like children who had been caught prying. They followed her obediently,
making conversation. Any one coming in might have judged them
acquaintances met, perhaps, for the third time. If that were so, one
must have concluded that the hostess suddenly bethought her of an
engagement pressing for fulfilment. First Katharine looked at her watch,
and then she asked William to tell her the right time. When told that it
was ten minutes to five she rose at once, and said:

"Then I'm afraid I must go."

She left the room, holding her unfinished bread and butter in her hand.
William glanced at Cassandra.

"Well, she IS queer!" Cassandra exclaimed.

William looked perturbed. He knew more of Katharine than Cassandra
did, but even he could not tell--. In a second Katharine was back again
dressed in outdoor things, still holding her bread and butter in her
bare hand.

"If I'm late, don't wait for me," she said. "I shall have dined," and so
saying, she left them.

"But she can't--" William exclaimed, as the door shut, "not without any
gloves and bread and butter in her hand!" They ran to the window, and
saw her walking rapidly along the street towards the City. Then she
vanished.

"She must have gone to meet Mr. Denham," Cassandra exclaimed.

"Goodness knows!" William interjected.

The incident impressed them both as having something queer and ominous
about it out of all proportion to its surface strangeness.

"It's the sort of way Aunt Maggie behaves," said Cassandra, as if in
explanation.

William shook his head, and paced up and down the room looking extremely
perturbed.

"This is what I've been foretelling," he burst out. "Once set the
ordinary conventions aside--Thank Heaven Mrs. Hilbery is away. But
there's Mr. Hilbery. How are we to explain it to him? I shall have to
leave you."

"But Uncle Trevor won't be back for hours, William!" Cassandra implored.

"You never can tell. He may be on his way already. Or suppose Mrs.
Milvain--your Aunt Cel