As she looked, a gust of wind set the feathers swirling in complicated circles; then it died away, and they dropped again with soft deliberation. Jean thought of her two miles' walk as of something delightful to come. She heartily enjoyed a battle with excited elements.
Evelyn returned soon, with moist wistful eyes, and a red spot on either cheek.
"O Jean, he is so good—always so noble and true! If only other people were like him!" Two large tears fell heavily. "I have been so cross to him to-day—before you came! As if he could help the Atherstones being what they are! And it is just his real goodness and humility which make him not even see how different they are from himself. I am sure Colonel Atherstone's way of laying down the law, and riding over everybody, would make any other man angry—but not my husband."
Jean was taken by surprise. She had not expected this little outburst of wifely enthusiasm. It was all true, no doubt. The General was most good: a noble nature in many respects. To be sure Evelyn did not always show so vivid an appreciation of his fine character; but nothing could be more desirable than that she should appreciate him. If a man's own wife is not awake to his merits, he stands a poor chance. Jean knelt on the rug, studying this phase of affairs in the firelight.
"He is very kind," she remarked moderately.
"Yes, you like him, of course. You could not know him, and not like him. But you do not know my husband fully, Jean. Who can—except myself? There are a hundred things that people never hear. He is so ready to take trouble for anybody. And so perfectly honourable—he never could stoop to any of the little mean things which other men do stoop to—even good men sometimes, not thinking. It is such devotion to what he feels to be right. He would give up everything to-morrow—I am sure of it—if there were any question of sacrificing his principles. One must admire such a spirit. And all these years so good to me—so patient! Even when he finds fault, he only does it because he thinks he ought—not from temper."
Jean's glance spoke admiration, not for the General at that moment, but for Evelyn herself. Evelyn failed to decipher it.
"He ought not to go out in such weather as this. It is very bad for him. There is a poor man, ill and in trouble about his rent. Our agent seems to have been hard on him; and the man is taken worse in consequence. My husband will not let him pass another anxious night; and he will not send any one else, because he doesn't understand the rights of the case."
"Couldn't he have the carriage out?"
"The horses are not rough-shod. This frost has taken us by surprise, and we did not mean to drive anywhere, so my husband thought we would wait a day to see if the cold lasted."