All these things, however, made the bitterness of the moment none the less bitter to poor Grace, and Val hardly knew what line of sympathy and consolation to offer to his sister.
The loss of a house was not irremediable under ordinary circumstances; but Grace’s circumstances were not ordinary. Indeed, Val found it difficult to picture his sister established anywhere else save in this quaint, charming old dwelling.
“You are not going to fret and make yourself ill, Grace, I hope?” he said, as the girl came and took off his heavy overcoat. “After all, if we do leave the Dower House, we shall be still together, and that will constitute a home wherever we are.”
Grace kissed him as she answered as cheerfully as she could:
“Of course I shan’t fret, dear. It—it is just now, at the very beginning, that I feel things a little sharply. Last night—but I won’t think of last night,” she added, resolutely. “You were not here, so it made all the difference, Val. I have not thanked you for coming back to-day. I hope you have not left any important business. I waited a long time before I sent you that telegram, but finally I had to let it go. I never felt so crushed and lonely in my life before.”
“Poor little Gracie!” Val held his sister’s hands in a caressing way peculiar to him, and he drew her to him and kissed her brow. “We will have a thorough confabulation together after dinner,” he said, cheerily, “and now run along and put on a cozy teagown, and tell Joseph to bring some champagne. I am going to insure you a good, sound sleep to-night, whatever happens.”
Grace laughed almost in her old, bright way as she picked up her coat and disappeared, and Val sent a tender look after the girl.
He had always had a pride in realizing the splendid qualities of his sister’s nature, and he knew now that deep as this premeditated cruelty on Christina’s part must cut, Grace would quickly rise superior to the occasion.
He stood a long time in front of the blazing wood fire, and a little of the unbounded regret that Grace must feel at parting from this dear, cozy old home came to him.
He was far removed from being a sentimental man, but he was a man to whom home and home ties appealed strongly, and, after all, the greater portion of his life had been lived beneath this roof.