Grace left her reluctantly. Duties in the house claimed her from time to time. Death may creep slowly up to the threshold, but life demands attention incessantly.
There were many things Grace had to do.
Valentine was going to London. He must have luncheon, and Sacha, too, did not quite understand why his home should be turned upside down for strangers. All these mundane things fell naturally to Grace’s lot to arrange.
In her hurry to see to Valentine’s comfort, she had not time to realize the lack of sympathy that characterized Sacha’s attitude at this moment.
It, therefore, came upon her with a shock, a few hours later, when Ellen, her faithful maid and helper, informed her that Mr. Sacha had ordered her to pack a portmanteau, and then had been driven up to Sunstead to remain there for the time being.
“Sir Mark wants me to paint his portrait also, and this is as good an opportunity as any,” the young man had told the servant, as she obeyed his orders silently. “And I am quite sure Miss Grace will be glad to get me out of the house,” he had added.
Grace made no remark when Ellen brought her this information.
It shocked her sharply for a moment to think that the heart of her younger brother could prove itself so insensible to the sufferings of others, but almost immediately her love began to frame an explanation, if not an excuse, of Sacha’s conduct. She translated his selfishness to signify a desire to save her any extra trouble.
“He thinks he will be better out of the way, that with so much to do in the house he will be only an additional worry. I am sorry he should have gone without speaking to me first; and I am more sorry still he should have gone to Sunstead, especially just now; but,” Grace added in her thought, “it is hardly just to expect Sacha to quarrel with Mark because Mark has quarreled with us. Will she come here?” was Grace’s next thoughts. “Surely her hardness must give way at such a time as this. Though I have no wish to come in contact with her again, I still hope she will remember she is this poor boy’s sister, and that her place is near him now.”
Unconsciously Grace found herself saying this to the old servant.