"He is found!" she said; and putting Mr. Trevelyan aside, she went forward alone.
"Then he lost his way, as Jean thought. And Jean has found him!—Jean!" with an accent of wonder. "Has he fainted? We must got him home quickly. He is so cold—only feel him! Cannot we give him—something—do—something?" uncertainly, as if she did not know what she said. "William, dearest! Dear—I have come to you."
Jean, shaken by the shock of her discovery, could not endure this. One hard sob broke from the girl's lips, racking her whole frame in its struggle to escape, and startling herself at least as much as others.
"Jean!" her father breathed, and she had herself in hand instantly; but that slight sound had done the business.
Evelyn looked across, with a dim smile, full of anguish.
"Jean!" she said. "Why—Jean—"
Then she swayed slowly forward and fell, prone and senseless, upon her husband's body.
[CHAPTER IX.]
BROUGHT HOME.
"Life and Thought have gone away
Side by side,
Leaving door and windows wide;
Careless tenants they!"
"All within is dark as night:
In the windows is no light;
And no murmur at the door,
So frequent on its hinge before."
TENNYSON.