The Interloper by Violet Jacob

MRS. SOMERVILLE retired from the breakfast-room in the height of / ill-humour: it was not often that her husband spoke to her in so plain / a manner and she was full of resentment. She was conscious that she had / behaved badly in listening at the door, and, though the act did not / seem to her such a heinous offence as it might have done to many / others, her conscience aggravated her discomfort.

But curiosity was a tough element in her, and she was stayed up through / its faint attacks by the interesting things she had overheard. Though / her ears were not sharp, and the pair on the other side of the door had / been sometimes indistinct, she had learned enough to gather what was / afoot. Evidently, Cecilia Raeburn was now breaking her heart for / Gilbert Speid, whom she had refused, and the Inspector and Mrs. Stirk / had agreed that he should be told of it; so that, if he were still / wearing the willow for the young woman, he might return in time to / snatch her from her lawful bridegroom.