It was not enough for Christina that Grace belonged to Valentine, and sided with Valentine, of course, against herself. She was jealous of Grace’s fine presence, and of her sovereignty in Dynechester, and finally, to cap it all, she was jealous of Grace in connection with her own family.
“Polly will, of course, fall down and worship her,” Christina had said to herself with a sneer, when she had first heard of Harold’s arrival at the Ambletons’ new house, and though she had done her best to destroy all illusion in her younger sister’s heart, she hankered after Polly’s lost enthusiasm simply because it was lost.
Thus it was that she worked to make things even for herself by having Sacha about her as much as possible.
But, after all, it was a poor consolation to fight a one-sided battle, and when Christina found that Grace accepted all she did in utter silence, she began to be annoyed in another way.
“Harold must come and stay here,” she said to herself. “After all, Mark is more powerful than Valentine Ambleton. He can do more for the boy’s future. I shall write and tell him I expect him. It will disappoint Miss Grace a little when she sees how quickly Harold obeys me.”
Unfortunately for Christina’s little plan, she had delayed writing to her brother too long, and the day she would have sent to him, Sacha brought the news of the boy’s sudden and dangerous illness. She would, therefore, have to find some other path in which to parade her power over Grace.
“If there is illness in your house, you had better come and stay here,” she told Sacha, carelessly.
It was exceedingly dull up at Sunstead at these times. Mark, with an outburst of characteristic obstinacy, had refused to invite anyone to his house.
“The people I know well are not the sort of people you ought to know, and all the rest of the world would go to the North Pole rather than stay with me,” he had informed his wife with complete candor; “besides, I don’t intend to have strangers here when poor grannie is so ill. Ask your sisters, if you want anyone, and there is Sacha Ambleton to amuse you. Grace is one of the few people I should like to see here, but, of course, she won’t come now.”
In his heart Mark Wentworth was heartily ashamed of the warfare that Christina waged against Valentine and his sister. The business of the Dower House, in particular, was a sore remembrance with him, and Christina was careful not to introduce the subject too frequently; not because she was afraid of Mark’s temper, but because she had begun to realize that, though she had posed as a power that must be obeyed, Grace’s dignified acceptance of the situation robbed her of all she desired to hold.