The poor lad’s body was, at his mother’s request, carried away from Dynechester, and laid in the same grave with his father.
Valentine held himself almost as a son to Mrs. Pennington in this moment of new and acute grief. He did everything to spare Polly and her mother.
“Val is in his zenith when he can be king over everybody,” Sacha said many times to Christina, who affected to be much annoyed as well as grieved over the proceedings of the moment.
“My mother is so weak, and my sister is worse than my mother. The proper person to do anything for them just now is Mark, since Hubert Kestridge is still abroad. Your brother is, of course, very kind to do so much; but he is usurping my husband’s place all the same.”
“Oh! Val was bound to act for your mother,” said Sacha to this. “As the sad event happened in our house, he could not let anyone else but himself look to things; and, besides, Mark hates funerals, and is not much good in an emergency, is he?”
Christina had flushed at this.
Sacha’s intimate knowledge of her husband was objectionable to her at times. She might confess many things to herself, but she did not care to have those same things told bluntly to her.
She made a parade of mourning, and kept herself shut up in the house those few days that intervened between Harold’s death and the removal of the body up to London.
She had made no further attempts with Valentine, but she had written to her mother and had also written to Grace, offering herself in any capacity. She received no answer to either of these letters.
Grace had indeed hesitated before she left Lady Wentworth’s letter unnoticed; but Valentine had settled matters for her.