“How can we tell that she has not left her heart in Norway?”
“I do not think so,” said Mrs. Boniface. “No, I feel sure that can’t be, from the way in which she speaks of her life there. If there is any rival to be feared it is Frithiof. They seem to me wrapped up in each other, and it is only natural, too, after all their trouble and separation and this illness of his. How strong he is getting again, and how naturally he takes to the game! He is such a fine-looking fellow, somehow he dwarfs every one else,” and she glanced across to the opposite side of the lawn, where Roy with his more ordinary height and build certainly did seem somewhat eclipsed. And yet to her motherly eyes that honest, open, English face, with its sun-burned skin, was perhaps the fairest sight in the world.
Not that she was a blindly and foolishly loving mother; she knew that he had his faults. But she knew, too, that he was a sterling fellow, and that he would make the woman he married perfectly happy.
They were so taken up with thoughts of the visible romance that was going on beneath their eyes, that it never occurred to them to think of what might be passing in the minds of the two on the other side of the net. And perhaps that was just as well, for the picture was a sad one, and would certainly have cast a shadow upon their hearts. Cecil was too brave and resolute and self-controlled to allow her love to undermine her health; nor did she so brood upon her inevitable loss that she ceased to enjoy the rest of her life. There was very much still left to her, and though at times everything seemed to her flavorless and insipid, yet the mood would pass, and she would be able intensely to enjoy her home life. Still there was no denying that the happiness which seemed dawning for Roy and Sigrid was denied to the other two; they were handicapped in the game of life just as they were at tennis—the setting sun shone full in their faces and made the play infinitely more difficult, whereas the others playing in the shady courts had a considerable advantage over them.
“Well, is the set over?” asked Mr. Boniface, as the two girls came toward them.
“Yes,” cried Sigrid merrily. “And actually our side has won! I am so proud of having beaten Cecil and Frithiof, for, as a rule, Frithiof is one of those detestable people who win everything. It was never any fun playing with him when we were children, he was always so lucky.”
As she spoke Frithiof had come up the steps behind her.
“My luck has turned, you see,” he said, with a smile in which there was a good deal of sadness. But his tone was playful, and indeed it seemed that he had entirely got rid of the bitterness which had once dominated every look and word.
“Nonsense!” she cried, slipping her hand into his arm. “Your luck will return; it is only that you are not quite strong again yet. Wait a day or two, and I shall not have a chance against you. You need not grudge me my one little victory.”
“It has not tired you too much?” asked Mrs. Boniface, glancing up at Frithiof. There was a glow of health in his face which she had never before seen, and his expression, which had once been stern, had grown much more gentle. “But I see,” she added, “that is a foolish question, for I don’t think I have ever seen you looking better. It seems to me this is the sort of exercise you need. We let you stay much too long over that translating in the old days.”