"Now speak to your little brother. He has been longing to see you—haven't you, Noel?"
Noel stood out straight with his hands behind him.
"I've see'd them now, Mummy, and they're just like uvver chil'en. Like the chil'en on board."
He did not offer to kiss them, but Diana put her arms round him and kissed him warmly.
"I think you're a dear little boy," she said. "I like your curls!"
Chris shook hands with him, and said nothing.
His mother laughed:
"Take him up to the nursery or schoolroom, or whatever you call it, and you'll soon be friends. I think I'll have a warm bath, Mother, before dinner. Noel and I had tea in the train. Oh, I'm tired!"
The children left the room, and climbed two flights of stairs in perfect silence.
This new unknown brother with his baby face and flaxen curls was amazingly self-possessed. Diana tried to take his hand, but he pulled it away from her with a jerk. He seemed to find going upstairs a great effort, and put his right foot foremost the whole way. When they reached the schoolroom, at last, he heaved a little sigh.