And what might not happen before the day was out?
It was a stimulating situation for one so curiously compact of courage
and of nerves as the present mistress of Normanthorpe House; and for
once she really was mistress, inspecting the silver with her own eyes,
arranging the flowers with her own hands, and, what was more difficult,
the order in which the people were to sit. She was thus engaged, in her
own sanctum, when Mrs. Venables did the one thing which Rachel had not
dreamt of her doing.
She called at three in the afternoon, and sent her name upstairs.
Rachel's heart made itself felt; but she was not afraid. Something was
coming earlier than she had thought; she was chiefly curious to know
what. Her first impulse was to have Mrs. Venables brought upstairs, and
to invoke her aid in the arrangement of the table before that lady could
open fire. Rachel disliked the great cold drawing-room, and felt that
she must be at a disadvantage in any interview there. On the other hand,
if this was a hostile visit, the visitor could not be treated with too
much consideration. And so the servant was dismissed with word that her
mistress would not be a moment; nor was Rachel very many.
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