She opened the door as she spoke. Derrick, who was behind a litter of manuscript, jumped up, thrilled at the sight of his visitor. Mrs. Millicent’s eyes swept the familiar room, fighting lest she see what she feared to see. She noted that the big desk was now covered with baize, the rugs differently arranged, the prints rehung, and a flower-box in the window. Photographs were on the table, another lamp on the desk, new ornaments on the narrow shelf above the dark wainscoting. She recognized the thought that lay behind all this, and it touched her deeply. Then her glance was drawn to the portrait, and she sat down, overcome for the moment.
“Please don’t mind me,” she said valiantly. “I’ll be all right in a second, and it’s quite right I should come here first.” She looked gratefully at Edith, “I’ll be able to say ‘Thank you’ presently. Somehow you’ve made the room seem ever so much bigger.”
Edith filled the gap of her brother’s silence. His eyes were dwelling on Jean’s lovely face, with its smooth oval and the delicate lips. Her throat was very white and perfectly molded, while neck and shoulder joined in a lissom curve he found amazingly attractive. There was strength in the slim straightness of her body, and grace in every gesture; but her chief allure lay in her eyes. These, full of changing light, seemed like calm, deep pools in the shadows of her dark brows, reflecting mood and thought with a sweet and rare fidelity. They held a soft luster all their own. For an instant Derrick stood quite motionless, a little blinded by it all. Then he heard Edith’s voice and responded to a note in it that was meant for him, though she spoke to Mrs. Millicent.
“I thought perhaps you’d sooner come in here at once, and it won’t be so hard the next time.”
Mrs. Millicent nodded, but her lips were trembling.
“Have you been very much bothered by strangers?” asked Jean quickly. “I’ve seen so many in the village, and most of them seemed on their way out here.”
“It was appalling till yesterday; then Sergeant Burke put a man on the gate, and that stopped it.”
“Where is Martin?” asked Mrs. Millicent. She had looked for him among the rose-trees and been relieved not to see him.
“He left yesterday,” said Derrick.
“Where did he go?”