She saw the old lady take two pieces of buttered toast
from the china dish, hold them tenderly in her hand and fling them a
swift, bird-like glance before she devoured them; during that
moment's vision Maggie discovered what so many people of vaster
experience both of life and of Mrs. Warlock had never discovered;
namely, that the old lady cared more for her food than her company.
Maggie was suddenly less afraid of the whole family. She looked up
then at Martin as though she thus would prove her new courage and,
he glancing across at the same moment, they smiled. He left his
father's side and, coming over to her, sat down close to her. He
dropped his voice in speaking to her.
"I've been wanting to see you," he said.
"Why?" she asked him.
"Well," he answered, smiling at her as though he wanted to tell her
something privately. "I feel as though we'd got a lot to tell one
another . . . I'm a stranger here really quite as much as you."
"No, you're not," she said. "You can't be so MUCH a stranger
anywhere because you've been all over the world and are ready for
anything."
"And you?"
"I don't seem to manage the simplest things.
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