Bettysawthedoubtinhereyes，andinameasure，guessedatitsmeaning。Thetimetopauseforargumenthad，howevernotarrived。Therewastoomuchtobeinvestigated，toomuchtobeseen。Shesweptheronherway。Theywanderedonthroughsomefortyrooms，moreorless；theyopeneddoorsandclosedthem；theyunbarredshuttersandletthesunstreaminondustanddampnessandcobwebs。ThecomprehensionofthesituationwhichBettygainedwasasvaluableasitwasenlightening。
Thedescentintothelowerpartofthehousewasanewexperience。Bettyhadnotbeforeseenhuge，flaggedkitchens，vaultedservants’halls，stonepassages，butteriesanddairies。
Thesubstantialmasonryofthewallsandarchedceilings，thestonestairway，andtheseeminglyendlessoffices，wereinterestinglyremoteinideafromsuchdomesticmodernitiesaschanceviewsofup—to—dateAmericanhouseholdworkingshadprovidedher。
Inthehugekitchenitself，anelderlywoman，rollingpastry，pausedtocurtsytothem，withstolidcuriosityinherheavy—
featuredface。Inhercharacteras\"single—handed\"cook，Mrs。NoakeshadsentupuninvitingmealstoLadyAnstruthersforseveralyears，butshehadnotseenherladyshipbelowstairsbefore。Andthiswastheunexpectedarrival——theyoungladytherehadbeen\"talkof\"fromthemomentofherappearance。Mrs。Noakesadmittedwiththegrudgingnessofapersonofuncheerfultemperament，thatlookslikethatalwayswouldmaketalk。AcertaindegreeofvaguementalilluminationledhertoagreewithRobert，thefootman，thatthestranger’seffectivenesswas，perhaps，also，notaltogetheramatterofgoodlooks，andcertainlyitwasnotanaffairofclothes。Herbrightishbluedress，ofroughcloth，wasnothingparticular，notwithstandingthefitofit。Therewas\"somethingelseabouther。\"Shelookedroundtheplace，notwiththecasualindifferenceofafineyounglady，carelesslycurioustoseewhatshehadnotseenbefore，butwithanalert，questioninginterest。