There was a short pause when he had finished speaking. Brenda appeared to be lost in a reverie. At length she spoke.
'Which course do you recommend, Theo?' she asked.
'My opinion can be of little value. It is a matter of personal feeling which only Mrs. Wylie can decide.'
'Yes. But she may be in that frame of mind where a decided opinion—your opinion—might be a comfort to her.'
As she made this suggestion she turned her head and looked up to see whether he had fully grasped her meaning, and he nodded his head slightly, admitting that her argument might very well be of value.
'I am afraid, Brenda,' he said apologetically, 'that I am rather hard and practical in these matters. My opinion is that Fjaerholm churchyard is as good as any other. It would be a horrible journey home for her and ... for you.'
'I think Fjaerholm would be best.'
'I am sure of it. Of course, Mrs. Wylie may have decided feelings on the subject, and if so we must give in, and leave the Hermione; though I think she will be better here among her own surroundings than on board a crowded passenger steamer—an object of curiosity and ostentatious sympathy.'
'I do not think,' said the girl, after a short pause, 'that she will be influenced by any mistaken sentiment.'
'Nor I. And of course it is mere sentiment. We English have a way of leaving our dead all over the world, and no doubt there are more of us in the sea than of any other nation.'