Sentence:  And it so happened that adjacent to a couch on which she had taken refuge was a small table on which she noted a vase of red rosebuds ; while projecting from beneath the couch <WSD>were</WSD> a pair of feet which , as Fate would have it , belonged to District Attorney Welch . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere