"She ought to be getting better. But she doesn't."
"You're not a Christian Scientist, by any chance?" she asked Joan
suddenly.
"No," answered Joan. "Surely you're not one?"
"I don't know," answered the woman. "I believe that would do her more
good than anything else. If she would listen to it. She seems to have
lost all will-power."
The nurse left her; and the landlady came in to lay the table. She
understood that Joan would be dining with Mr. Phillips. There was no
train till the eight-forty. She kept looking at Joan as she moved about
the room. Joan was afraid she would begin to talk, but she must have
felt Joan's antagonism for she remained silent. Once their eyes met, and
the woman leered at her.
Phillips came down looking more cheerful. He had detected improvement in
Mrs. Phillips. She was more hopeful in herself. They talked in low
tones during the meal, as people do whose thoughts are elsewhere. It
happened quite suddenly, Phillips explained. They had come down a few
days after the rising of Parliament. There had been a spell of hot
weather; but nothing remarkable.
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