His little sisters accompanied him east, and he found a home for them with a sister of his mother, who was a good, kind, Christian lady. Dennis's salary was not large, but sufficient to insure that his sisters would be no burden to his aunt, who was in rather straitened circumstances. He also arranged that the small annuity should be paid for their benefit.
It was hard parting from his sisters, whose little hearts seemed breaking at what appeared to them to be a new bereavement.
"How can I leave them!" he exclaimed, with tears falling fast from his eyes.
"They are children," said his aunt, soothingly, "and will forget their troubles in a few days."
And so it proved; but Dennis, with a sore heart, and feeling very lonely, returned to Chicago.
When at last Christine got out again, she learned from Ernst at the store that Dennis's mother had died, and that he had taken the remains and his sisters east. In his sorrow he seemed doubly interesting to her.
"How I wish it were in my power to cheer and comfort him!" she sighed, "and yet I fear my ability to do this is less than that of any one else. In very truth he seems to despise and hate me now. The barriers between us grow stronger and higher every day. How different it all might have been if—. But what is the use of these wretched 'ifs'? What is the use of resisting this blind, remorseless fate that brings happiness to one and crushes another?"
Wearily and despondingly she rode back to the elegant home in which she found so little enjoyment.
Whom should she met there but Mrs. Von Brakhiem from New York, bound westward with a gay party on a trip to the Rocky Mountains and California? They had stopped to spend a few days in Chicago, and were determined to take Christine on with them. Her father strongly seconded the plan. Though Christine surmised his motive, she did not care to resist. Since she would soon be separated from Dennis forever, the less she saw of him the less would be the pain. Moreover, her sore and heavy heart welcomed any change that would cause forgetfulness; and so it was speedily arranged.
Mrs. Von Brakhiem and her party quite took possession of the Ludolph mansion, and often made it echo with gayety.