Crofton, her bare left arm hanging over
the side of the low couch. Jack, perched on the arm of a big chair, was
looking at her, all his soul in his eyes. Mr. Tosswill sat some way off
under a shaded reading lamp; his wife, knitting, not far from him. Tom
was surreptitiously reading a book in a corner behind the sofa.
And then, all at once, Radmore found himself whirled into an unutterable
scene of confusion and terror.
As Timmy walked through the open door Josephine had leapt out of his arms
on to the floor. For a flashing second the cat stood on the carpet, her
white fur all abristle, her back arched, and her tail lashing furiously
in the air. Then, uttering a hoarse cry of rage and fear, she sprang
towards Mrs. Crofton, and dug first her claws, and then her teeth, into
the white arm that hung over the side of the couch.... Josephine's
terrified victim gave a fearful cry, everyone in the room got up and
rushed forward, and at that exact instant Betty came into the
drawing-room. Sweeping a piece of embroidery off the piano, she threw it
over the cat's head, took up the now struggling, helpless bundle, and
rushed out of the room with it.
Then followed a scene of appalling confusion.
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