Annie joined Mrs. Putney. They talked at first with those who came to ask
where Putney and the doctor were; but finally they withdrew into a little
alcove from the parlour, where Mrs. Munger approved of their being when she
discovered them; they must be very tired, and ought to rest on the lounge
there. Her theory of the exhaustion of those who had taken part in the play
embraced their families.

The time wore on toward midnight, and her guests got themselves away with
more or less difficulty as they attempted the formality of leave-taking
or not. Some of the hands who thought this necessary found it a serious
affair; but most of them slipped off without saying good night to Mrs.
Munger or expressing that rapture with the whole evening from beginning
to end which the ladies of South Hatboro' professed. The ladies of South
Hatboro' and Old Hatboro' had met in a general intimacy not approached
before, and they parted with a flow of mutual esteem. The Gerrish children
had dropped asleep in nooks and corners, from which Mr. Gerrish hunted them
up and put them together for departure, while his wife remained with Mrs.
Munger, unable to stop talking, and no longer amenable to the looks with
which he governed her in public.

Lyra came downstairs, hooded and wrapped for departure, with Jack
Wilmington by her side. "Why, _Ellen_!" she said, looking into the
little alcove from the hall. "Are you here yet? And Annie! Where in the
world is Ralph?" At the pleading look with which Mrs. Putney replied, she
exclaimed: "Oh, it's what I was afraid of! I don't see what the woman could
have been about! But of course she didn't think of poor Ralph. Ellen, let
me take you and Winthrop home! Dr. Morrell will be sure to bring Ralph."