"It was silly of her to make such a fuss, though!" Eric exclaimed, scornfully.
"I couldn't help it," Celia murmured, hanging her head.
"You didn't try not to help it," Eric retorted. "You always were a little coward."
"Eric, that is not the way to speak to your sister," Sir Jasper told the boy, reprovingly. "Were not you frightened?" he inquired, turning to Joy.
She started in surprise, and blushed crimson, for he had not addressed her for days previously, and for a minute she was too confused to reply.
"I think I was a little frightened," she confessed at length. "The lightning was so blinding, I felt I must scream once, then I remembered—"
She paused abruptly, overawed by the keen scrutiny with which Sir Jasper was observing her, and trembled far more than she had done when the storm was at its height.
"What did you remember?" he asked, puzzled by her manner.
"That God was with us," she answered in a low tone.
Sir Jasper sat in silence for a few seconds, then a sarcastic smile crossed his face, and he said meaningly: