Oh, for some one!
Involuntarily she sat up and extended her thin arms almost as if in a
beckoning gesture.
As she did so the front door bell rang.
Cuckoo was startled and felt as if it rang for her. But that was
unlikely; and there were other lodgers of her kind in the house. No
doubt it was a visitor for one of them.
Mrs. Brigg went in weary procession along the passage and opened the
door. A few words were indistinctly spoken in a man's voice. Then the
street door shut, and almost simultaneously the door of Cuckoo's
sitting-room opened very quietly and Valentine entered.
CHAPTER VIII
VALENTINE EXPOUNDS THE GOSPEL OF INFLUENCE TO THE LADY OF THE FEATHERS
Valentine closed the door behind him and stood by it, looking at Cuckoo
gravely. She had pushed herself up on the sofa, using her elbows as a
lever, and in an awkward attitude, half sitting, half lying down, stared
at him with startled eyes. Her unshod feet were drawn in towards her
body, and her dyed hair hung in a thick tangle round her face and on her
shoulders. She said nothing.
Valentine put his hat down on the table and began to take off his gloves.
"I am glad to find you at home," he said politely.
Cuckoo shifted a little farther back on the sofa.
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