It did not present itself to her that
references from a house of cards which had ignominiously fallen
to pieces and which henceforth would represent only shady failure,
would be of no use. So she fell asleep.
* * * * *
When she awakened the lights were lighted in the streets and one
directly across the way threw its reflection into her bedroom. It
lit up the little table near which she had sat and the first thing
she saw was the pile of small account books. The next was that the
light which revealed them also fell brightly on the glass knob of
the door which led into Robert's room.
She turned her eyes away quickly with a nervous shudder. She had
a horror of the nearness of Rob's room. If there had been another
part of the house in which she could have slept she would have fled
to it as soon as he was taken ill. But the house was too small to
have "parts". The tiny drawing-rooms piled themselves on top of the
dining-room, the "master's bedrooms" on top of the drawing-rooms,
and the nurseries and attics where Robin and the servants slept
one on the other at the top of the house. So she had been obliged
to stay and endure everything. Rob's cramped quarters had always
been full of smart boots and the smell of cigars and men's clothes.
He had moved about a good deal and had whistled and laughed and
sworn and grumbled.
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