"I am overjoyed at a real young lady like you caring to stay,"
replied Poulter.

Mr Poulter read a chapter from the Bible. He then offered up a brief
extempore prayer. He prayed for Miss Nippett, for Mavis, for past
and present pupils, the world at large. The Lord's Prayer, in which
the two women joined, ended the devotions.

When Miss Nippett had put on her goloshes, bonnet, and cloak, and
Mavis her things, Mr Poulter accompanied them to the door.

"I live in the 'Bush': where do you?" asked Miss Nippett of Mavis.

"Kiva Road, Hammersmith."

"Then we go different ways. Good night, Mr Poulter; good night, Miss
Keeves."

Mavis wished her and Mr Poulter good night. The two women walked
together to the gate, when Miss Nippett hobbled off to the left.

As Mavis turned to the right, she glanced at Mr Poulter, who was
still standing on the steps; he was gazing raptly at "Turpsichor." A
few minutes later, when she encountered the insolent glances of the
painted foreign women who flock in the Goldhawk Road, Mavis found it
hard to believe that they and Mr Poulter inhabited the same world.