“That is all arranged. Richard is not the same man he was a few years ago, and, without Maude, I know not how he would get on at all.”
“He’s never got over the loss of Jane.”
“Never, and I fear never will. You see Jane was a fatalist, a believer in destiny, was strangely superstitious, believed in omens and signs and all that sort of things, and somehow or other at times I am afraid she has imbued my brother with the same notions.”
“You think so?”
“Sometimes I do, while at others I hope I am mistaken, but taken altogether it has been a bad business.”
“What! his marriage with Jane Ryan?”
“I don’t say that. He loved her if ever man did love a woman, and she was worthy of him, for a better, more true, and honest gell never broke the bread of life. This is one thing, but her heart was bruised and half-broken when she gave her hand to my poor brother.”
“Ah, John, a deep shadow has fallen over you and yours, even as it has done over me and mine, but these are things over which we have no control, and yet they both spring from the same cause or nearly so.”
“You are right, Patty. A shadow has fallen on Oakfield.”
“But we are no worse off than our betters—perhaps not so badly off, in many ways. A shadow has fallen over the inmates of Broxbridge Hall, and Lady Aveline is not without her troubles; neither is the earl, her grandfather.”