"I slipped away, ma'am, before he saw me."

"Why?"

"Miss Westerfield was in the shrubbery, with my master. I might
have been mistaken--" The girl paused, and looked confused.

Mrs. Linley tried to tell her to go on. The words were in her
mind; but the capacity of giving expression to them failed her.
She impatiently made a sign. The sign was understood.

"I might have been mistaken," the maid repeated--"but I thought
Miss Westerfield was crying."

Having replied in those terms, she seemed to be anxious to get
away. The parasol caught her eye. "Miss Kitty wants this," she
said, "and wonders why you have not gone back to her in the
garden. May I take the parasol?"

"Take it."

The tone of the mistress's voice was completely changed. The
servant looked at her with vague misgivings. "Are you not well,
ma'am?"

"Quite well."

The servant withdrew.