Later she realized that the ground on which they stood was too holy for
such considerations to have any weight with either brother. They were
united in the one supreme effort to make the way smooth for the sister
who meant so much to them both; and during all those days of waiting
Dinah never heard a harsh or impatient word upon the elder's lips. All
arrogance, all hardness, seemed to have fallen away from him as he trod
with them that mountain-path. Even old Biddy realized the change and
relented somewhat towards him though she never wholly brought herself to
look upon him as an ally.
It was on a stormy evening at the beginning of July that Dinah was
sitting alone in the little creeper-grown verandah watching the wonderful
greens and purples of the sea when Eustace came soft-footed through the
window behind her and sat down in a chair close by, which Scott had
vacated a few minutes before.
Scott had just gone to the village post-office with some letters,
but she had refused to accompany him, for it was the hour when she
usually sat with Isabel. She glanced at Eustace swiftly as he sat down,
half-expecting a message from the sick-room. But he said nothing, merely
leaning back in the wicker-chair, and fixing his eyes upon the sombre
splendour of endless waters upon which hers had been resting. There was a
massive look about him, as of a strong man deliberately bent to some
gigantic task.
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