He wanted to know that she forgave him, but
also wanted to assure her that he expected her to mind what she did,
to go straight. She turned away her eyes; she was indeed ashamed of
him.
She waited three days and then conveyed her sisters to the repaire,
as she would have been ready to term it, of the lioness. That queen
of beasts was surrounded with callers, as Adela knew she would be; it
was her "day" and the occasion the girl preferred. Before this she
had spent all her time with her companions, talking to them about
their mother, playing on their memory of her, making them cry and
making them laugh, reminding them of blest hours of their early
childhood, telling them anecdotes of her own. None the less she
confided to them that she believed there was no harm at all in Mrs.
Churchley, and that when the time should come she would probably take
them out immensely. She saw with smothered irritation that they
enjoyed their visit at Prince's Gate; they had never been at anything
so "grown-up," nor seen so many smart bonnets and brilliant
complexions. Moreover they were considered with interest, quite as
if, being minor elements, yet perceptible ones, of Mrs. Churchley's
new life, they had been described in advance and were the heroines of
the occasion. There were so many ladies present that this personage
didn't talk to them much; she only called them her "chicks" and asked
them to hand about tea-cups and bread and butter.
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