Denton also approved, and, to Joan's
surprise, kissed her; Mrs. Denton was not given to kissing. She wired to
her father, and got his reply the same evening. He would be at her rooms
on the day she had fixed with his travelling bag, and at her Ladyship's
orders. "With love and many thanks," he had added. She waited till the
day before starting to run round and say good-bye to the Phillipses. She
felt it would be unwise to try and get out of doing that. Both Phillips
and Hilda, she was thankful, were out; and she and Mrs. Phillips had tea
alone together. The talk was difficult, so far as Joan was concerned. If
the woman had been possessed of ordinary intuition, she might have
arrived at the truth. Joan almost wished she would. It would make her
own future task the easier. But Mrs. Phillips, it was clear, was going
to be no help to her.
For her father's sake, she made pretence of eagerness, but as the sea
widened between her and the harbour lights it seemed as if a part of
herself were being torn away from her.
They travelled leisurely through Holland and the Rhine land, and that
helped a little: the new scenes and interests; and in Switzerland they
discovered a delightful little village in an upland valley with just one
small hotel, and decided to stay there for a while, so as to give
themselves time to get their letters.
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