Now, she was sitting in her little bedroom in Kiva Street, a prey to despair; she had no one to comfort her, not even Mrs. Ellis, this person having gone out on a rare visit to an aunt.

Her little stock of money had sadly dwindled; eighteen shillings and her trinkets stood between her and want.  She had fought and had been vanquished; there was nothing left for her to do but to write to Mrs Devitt and ask if the offer, that had been mentioned in her last letter to Miss Mee, still held good.  During all these weeks of weary effort, Mavis had been largely kept up by the thought that she was a sparrow, who could not fall to the ground without the knowledge of the Most High.  Now, it seemed to her that she could sustain her flight but a little while longer; yet, so far as she could see, there was no one to whom her extremity seemed to matter in the least.

Apart from her desire to earn a living, the girl had struggled resolutely in order that she should not seek work of the Devitts.  She disliked the family; she had resolved to apply to them only as a last resource.

She had gone one day to Brandenburg College to call on her old employers, but she found that the name-plate had been removed, and that the house was to let.  She had made inquiries, to learn that her old friend Miss Annie Mee had died suddenly at Worthing, and also that Miss Helen had sold the school for what it would fetch, and no one knew what had become of her.  Mavis grieved at the loss of her friend, but not so deeply, or for so long, as she would if she had not been consumed with anxiety on her own account.  She had not forgotten Mr Goss’s offer of help:  she had called at his house twice, to learn on each occasion that he was out of town.  Presently, Mrs Ellis came in; finding Mavis moping, she asked her to the downstairs sitting-room for a cup of tea.  The girl gladly went:  she sat by the window watching the men working in the yard behind, while Mrs Ellis made tea in the kitchen.  Mavis, wanting air, opened the window, although she remembered her landlady’s liking for having this particular one shut.  No sooner had she done so, than she heard a woman’s voice raised in raucous anger, the while it made use of much bad language.  It abused certain people for not having done their work.  The bad language getting more forceful than before, Mavis moved from the window.  Presently, the voice stopped.  Soon after, Mrs Ellis, looking red and flustered, came into the room.  When she saw that Mavis had opened the window, she became redder in the face, as she said: 

“I’m sorry, miss; I couldn’t help it.”

“Help what?” asked Mavis.

“Talking to the men as I did.  I always wanted the window down, so you shouldn’t hear.”

“It was you, then?”

“Didn’t you know, miss?”

“Not altogether.  It was something like your voice.”

“If I were to talk to them ordinary, they wouldn’t listen; so I’ve to talk to them in my ’usband’s language, which is all they understand,” said Mrs Ellis apologetically.