She went downstairs feeling like a balloon on a string; her feet touching the stairs lightly as if there were no weight in her body. At the end of the long journey came the smiling familiar surprise of the hall. The hall table was clear, a stretch of grey marble in the morning light. The letters had been taken into the dining-room. There was something, a package, on the far corner, a book package, with a note, Silurian blue, _Eleanor_. Small straggly round handwriting, yes, Eleanor's, _R. Rodkin, Esq_: _Ah._ Mr. _Rodkin_. How had she done it? When? Carrying off a book. Pretending she had forgotten, and writing. Sly cleverness. What a blessing she had gone.... Booming through her uneasiness came a great voice from the dining-room. Through the misty corridors of the _Dawn_ it bellowed. She went gladly in towards poetry. Mrs. Bailey was presiding over an early breakfast. The Irishman, sitting back mirthfully in his chair on the far side of the table and at his side a big stout man with a bushy black beard, brilliant laughing eyes staring at nothing from a flushed face. Mrs. Bailey was watching him with a polite smile; he looked as though he were at supper; making the room seem hot, obliterating the time of day. I expect you had a rough crossing, she said politely. I _saw_ her, he bellowed flinging back his head and roaring out words and laughter together. She walks in _Beauty_. I saw her sandalled feet; upon the _Hills_. PRINTED BY WM. BRENDON AND SON, LTD. PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND Transcriber's Notes The original spelling and punctuation were mostly preserved. In "Interim", Dorothy Richardson experimented with punctuation, in particular leaving out many commas and quotation marks, in order to promote "creative collaboration" with the reader. Therefore, punctuation was mostly left unchanged, as was the varying usage of hyphens and ellipses. A few obvious typographical and formatting errors were silently corrected. Further careful corrections, some after consulting other editions, are listed here (before/after): [p. 66]: ... was no need to have brought in home. It was ... ... was no need to have brought it home. It was ... [p. 80]: ... Moskowski's Serenade sounded fearfully pathetic; ... ... Moszkowski's Serenade sounded fearfully pathetic; ... [p. 88]: ... Who were they afraid of shocking with their ... ... Whom were they afraid of shocking with their ... [p. 111]: ... and her difficulties remained.... One had told ... ... and her difficulties remained.... One had told it ... [p. 114]: ... lost in the thick turkey carpeting of the waiting-room ... ... lost in the thick Turkey carpeting of the waiting-room ... [p. 122]: ... himself, in every tone listening, in the very ... ... himself, in every one listening, in the very ...