You are given an English sentence with a blank, and you need to predict the missing word. After completing, the whole sentence should be gramatically correct and non-ambiguous.
Q: was so ludicrously afraid matthew however was spared the ordeal of speaking first for as soon as she concluded that he was coming to her she stood up ____ with one thin brown hand the handle of a shabby old fashioned carpet bag the other she held out to him
A:
grasping