fortunately , though her contrition may have been acute , it was not effusiveperhaps because of a shortage of paperand having disposed of it in the first sentence , she then spent the two remaining paragraphs on the much more interesting intelligence , that she had spent the first part of the morning with mrs. warren and mrs. joles at their insistence , and that mrs. joles had just persuaded them that they should all go out in search of pastries , when miss barr had looked up , and to her astonishment seen her mother approaching , in company with a strange gentleman in a blue coat .