To distract her thoughts from her
present trouble, she tried to be interested in the opening chapter
of the work that Mr Napper had lent her. But it proved too
formidable in her present state of mind. She would read a passage,
to find that it conveyed no meaning; she was more interested in the
clock on the mantel-piece and wondering how long it would be before
she got any news. One peculiarity of Mr Napper's book attracted her
attention: she saw that, whereas the first few pages were dog's-
eared and thumb-marked, the succeeding ones were as fresh as when
they issued from the bookseller's hands.
While she was thus waiting in suspense, she heard strange sounds
coming from the office where Vincent worked. She went to the door,
to look through that part of it which was of glass. She saw Vincent,
who, so far as she could gather, was talking as if to an audience,
the while he held an inkpot in one hand and the office cat in the
other. When he had finished talking, he caused these to vanish, at
which he acknowledged the applause of an imaginary audience with
repeated bows. After another speech, he reproduced the cat and the
inkpot, proceedings which led Mavis to think that the boy had
conjuring aspirations.
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