Some such aspirations as these were again working in her mind late in the afternoon, when the apparition of one of the personages haunting her thoughts passed the parlour window. Miss Keeldar sauntered slowly by, her gait, her countenance, wearing that mixture of wistfulness and carelessness which, when quiescent, was the wonted cast of her look and character of her bearing. When animated, the carelessness quite vanished, the wistfulness became blent with a genial gaiety, seasoning the laugh, the smile, the glance, with a unique flavour of sentiment, so that mirth from her never resembled "the crackling of thorns under a pot."
"What do you mean by not coming to see me this afternoon, as you promised?" was her address to Caroline as she entered the room.
"I was not in the humour," replied Miss Helstone, very truly.
Shirley had already fixed on her a penetrating eye.

Late in the afternoon, the apparition of one of the people haunting her thoughts passed the parlour window. Miss Keeldar sauntered slowly by with her usual mixture of wistfulness and carelessness.
"What do you mean by not coming to see me this afternoon, as you promised?" she asked Caroline as she entered.
"I was not in the humour," replied Miss Helstone truthfully.
Shirley had already fixed on her a penetrating eye.
