Mrs. Hurtle got up to receive him with her sweetest smile,--and her smile could be very sweet. She was a witch of a woman, and, as like most witches she could be terrible, so like most witches she could charm. "Only fancy," she said, "that you should have come the only day I have been two hundred yards from the house, except that evening when you took me to the play. I was so sorry."

Mrs. Hurtle received him with her sweetest smile - and her smile could be very sweet. Like most witches she could be terrible, and like most witches she could charm.
"Only fancy," she said, "that you should have come the only day I have been away from the house. I was so sorry. 