In a panic she fumbled clumsily at her coat, found the sleeve just as she heard Anthony's footsteps on the lower stair. She dared not wait; he might not let her go,and even Anthony was part of this weight, part of this evil house and the sombre darkness that was growing up about it....
Through the hall then ... and down the back stairs,hearing Anthony's voice in the bedroom she had just left—
"Gloria! Gloria!"
But she had reached the kitchen now, passed out through the doorway into the night. A hundred drops,startled by a flare of wind from a dripping tree,scattered on her and she pressed them gladly to her face with hot hands.