He smiled. "It didn't mean so much to me as it would have meant to some
men, Miss Bathurst,--as it would have meant to Eustace, for instance. I'm
not much of a man. To give up my college career and settle down at home
wasn't such a great wrench. I'm not especially clever. I act as my
brother's secretary, and we find it answers very well. He is a rich man,
and there is a good deal of business in connection with the estate, and
so on. I am a poor man. By my father's will nearly everything was left to
him and to Isabel. I was something of an offence to him, being the cause
of my mother's death and misshapen into the bargain."
"What a wicked shame!" broke from Dinah.
"No, no! Some people are like that. They are made so. I don't feel in the
least bitter about it. He left me enough to live upon, though as a matter
of fact neither he nor anyone else expected me to grow up at the time
that will was made. It was solely due to Biddy's devotion, I believe,
that I managed to do so." He uttered his quiet laugh. "I am talking
rather much about myself. It's kind of you not to be bored."
"Bored!" echoed Dinah, with shining eyes. "I think you are simply
wonderful. I hope--I hope Sir Eustace realizes it."
"I hope he does," agreed Scott with a twinkle. "He has ample
opportunities for doing so. Ah, there he is! He is actually skating
alone. What has become of the beautiful Miss de Vigne, I wonder.
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