Isabel smiled at her with a touch of pity in her eyes. "Marriage isn't only new clothes and wedding presents, Dinah," she said.
"No, no! I know!" Dinah spoke with swift compunction. "It is far more than that. But I've never had such lovely things before. I can't help feeling a little giddy about it. You do understand, don't you? I'm not like that all through—really."
"My darling!" Isabel answered fondly. "Of course I know it. I sometimes think that it would be better for you if you were."
"Isabel, why—why?" Dinah pressed close to her, half-curious, half-frightened.
But Isabel did not answer her. She only kissed the vivid, upturned face with all a mother's tenderness, and turned back in silence, to the fashion-book on her knee.
CHAPTER VII
DOUBTING CASTLE
When Sir Eustace returned, he found his bride-elect awaiting him with a radiant face. She sprang to greet him with an eagerness that outwent all shyness.
"Oh, Eustace, I have had such a lovely time!" she told him. "It has been a perfect day."
She offered him her lips with a child's simplicity, but blushed deeply when she felt the hot pressure of his, turning her face aside the moment he released her.