"
"Signora Bertolini would be upset."
"We must face that," said Miss Bartlett, not liking to say that
she had given notice already.
"She will make us pay for a whole week's pension."
"I expect she will. However, we shall be much more comfortable at
the Vyses' hotel. Isn't afternoon tea given there for nothing?"
"Yes, but they pay extra for wine." After this remark she
remained motionless and silent. To her tired eyes Charlotte
throbbed and swelled like a ghostly figure in a dream.
They began to sort their clothes for packing, for there was no
time to lose, if they were to catch the train to Rome. Lucy, when
admonished, began to move to and fro between the rooms, more
conscious of the discomforts of packing by candlelight than of a
subtler ill. Charlotte, who was practical without ability, knelt
by the side of an empty trunk, vainly endeavouring to pave it
with books of varying thickness and size. She gave two or three
sighs, for the stooping posture hurt her back, and, for all her
diplomacy, she felt that she was growing old.
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