It does an old lady good to see young
faces."
Martin was near the door. He almost crushed Maggie's hand in his: "I
must see you--soon," he whispered.
Free from the house Maggie and her aunt walked home in complete
silence. Maggie's heart was a confusion of rage, surprise,
loneliness and pride. No one had ever behaved like that to her
before. And what had she done? What was there about her that people
hated? . . . Why? . . . Why? She felt as though, in some way, it had
all been Aunt Anne's fault. Why did not Aunt Anne speak? Well, if
they all hated her she would go on her own way. She did not care.
But alone in her room, her face, indignant, proud, quivering,
surprising her in the long mirror by its strangeness, and causing
her to feel, because it did not seem to belong to her, more lonely
than ever, she burst out:
"I can't stand it. I CAN'T stand it. I'll get away . . . so soon as
ever I can!"
CHAPTER III
MAGGIE AND MARTIN
That moment in her bedroom altered for Maggie the course of all her
future life. She had never before been, consciously, a rebel; she
had, only a week before, almost acquiesced in the thought that she
would remain in her aunts' house for the rest of her days; now Mr.
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