Sentence:  She stood up , smoothing her hair down , straightening her clothes , feeling a thankfulness for the enveloping darkness outside , and , above everything else , for the absence of the need to <WSD>answer</WSD> , to respond , to be aware even of Stowey coming in or going out , and yet , now that she was beginning to cook , she glimpsed a future without him , a future alone like this , and the pain made her head writhe , and in a moment she found it hard to wait for Lucretia to come with her guests . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  react verbally