of the tone that she just wanted her not to; and the
result for some seconds, was but to make their eyes
meet in silence. Mrs. Stringham had rejoined them
and was asking if Kate had gone an inquiry at once
answered by this young lady's reappearance. They
saw her again in the open window, where, looking
at them, she had paused producing thus, on Aunt
Maud's part, almost too impressive a " Hush!"
Mrs. Lowder indeed, without loss of time, smoth
ered any danger in a sweeping retreat with Susie;
but Milly's words to her, just uttered, about dealing
with her niece directly, struck our young woman as
already recoiling on herself. Directness, however
evaded, would be, fully, for her; nothing in fact
would ever have been for her so direct as the evasion.
Kate had remained in the window, very handsome
and upright, the outer dark framing in a highly
favourable way her summery simplicities and light
nesses of dress. Milly had, given the relation of
space, no real fear she had heard their talk; only she
hovered there as with conscious eyes and some added
advantage. Then indeed, with small delay, her
friend sufficiently saw. The conscious eyes, the
added advantage were but those she had now always
at command those proper to the person Milly knew
as known to Merton Densher. It was for several
seconds again as if the total of her identity had been
that of the person known to him a determination
having for result another sharpness of its own.
Kate had positively but to be there just as she was to

[[297]]

p296 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p297w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p298

v?