He turned with a stifled groan, and, leaning his elbows on the mantelpiece, buried his face in his hands.
Yet in that painful hour, out of all the tragic mistakes of her life, Lorraine might have gleaned this gladness. In that hour he was nearer than he had ever been before to the man she had striven to make him; for, mercifully for all mankind, there is a “power outside ourselves,” which out of wrong, and weakness, and pain can bring forth good.
The sad trio returned to London the following day, and Hal wondered forlornly if Dudley would leave his office early to come and meet her.
When she stepped out on the platform he and Ethel were standing together, looking for her. Then they saw her, and Ethel came forward first, holding out both hands, with a subdued light in her face, that made Hal pause and wonder.
“How did you know? It was nice of you to come,” she said, with another question in her eyes.
“Dudley told me, dear. I have been thinking of you so much.”
Then Dudley stepped up to them, and in his face, too, was this subdued gladness.
Hal looked from one to the other.
“Have you?…” she began, and paused uncertainly.
“Yes, dear”; and Ethel blushed charmingly. “I am going to be your sister, so I thought you would let me begin at once, and come to meet you, and try to comfort you a little.”