Then there came over her countenance
a strange gleam of joy, as if she triumphed in self-conquest. She
smiled as she continued her work, clearly making a happiness of each
mastered sentence. And, looking up with the smile still fixed, she
found that her solitude was invaded. Letty Tew had just appeared
round the rock which sheltered the green haven.
'You here, Adela?' the girl exclaimed. 'How strange!'
'Why strange, Letty?'
'Oh, only because I had a sort of feeling that perhaps I might meet
you. Not here, particularly,' she added, as if eager to explain
herself, 'but somewhere in the wood. The day is so fine; it tempts
one to walk about.'
Letty did not approach her friend as she would have done when
formerly they met here. Her manner was constrained, almost timid; it
seemed an afterthought when she bent forward for the kiss. Since
Adela's marriage the intercourse between them had been comparatively
slight. For the first three months they had seen each other only at
long intervals, in part owing to circumstances. After the fortnight
she spent in London at the time of her marriage, Adela had returned
to Wanley in far from her usual state of health; during the first
days of February there had been a fear that she might fall gravely
ill. Only in advanced spring had she begun to go beyond the grounds
of the Manor, and it was still unusual for her to do so except in
her carriage.
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