Then she locked
the other window and drew the curtains, and, after going into
Kitty's room, which opened off the larger one, and fixing up the one
window there in the same way, she prepared to retire, but Madame
stopped her.
'You must stay all night with me, Selina,' she said, irritably. 'I
can't be left alone.'
'But, Miss Kitty,' objected Selina, 'she'll expect to be waited for
coming home from the ball.'
'Well, she comes in here to go to her own room,' said Madame,
impatiently; 'you can leave the door unlocked.'
'Well,' observed Miss Sprotts, grimly, beginning to undress herself,
'for a nervous woman, you leave a great many windows and doors
open.'
'I'm not afraid as long as you are with me,' said Madame, yawning;
'it's by myself I get nervous.'
Miss Sprotts sniffed, and observed that 'Prevention is better than
cure,' then went to bed, and both she and Madame were soon fast
asleep. Selina slept on the outside of the bed, and Madame, having a
sense of security from being with someone, slumbered calmly; so the
night wore drowsily on, and nothing could be heard but the steady
ticking of the clock and the heavy breathing of the two women.
A sleepy servant admitted Kitty when she came home from the ball,
and had said goodbye to Mrs Killer and Bellthorp. Then Mrs Riller,
whose husband had gone home three hours before, drove away with
Bellthorp, and Kitty went into Madame's room, while the sleepy
servant, thankful that his vigil for the night was over, went to
bed.
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