"There now, there now, miss dear, don't 'ee take on like that. 'Tis a cup
of tea you be wanting, sure's I'm here. An' I've a nice drop of water
nearing the boil to make it for you."
She drew Ann into the living-room--a pleasant sunshiny room with a huge
open hearth that promised roaring fires when winter came--and whisked away
into the back regions to brew the tea.
Ann smiled up at Robin rather dewily.
"Oh, Robin, we ought to be awfully happy here!" she exclaimed. As she
spoke, like a shadow passing betwixt her and the sun, came the memory of
the morning at Montricheux, when she had been waiting for Lady Susan's
coming and some vague foreboding of the future had knocked warningly at the
door of her consciousness. For a moment the walls of the little room seemed
to melt away, dissolving into thick folds of fog which rolled towards her
in ever darker and darker waves, threatening to engulf her. Instinctively
she stretched out her hand to ward them off, but they only drew nearer,
closing round her relentlessly. And then, just as she felt that there was
no escape, and that they must submerge her utterly, there came the rattle
of crockery, followed by Maria's heavy tread as she marched into the room
carrying the tea-tray, and the illusion vanished.
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