'You think so?' in a curious monotone.
'Yes; I do.'
'I ... don't,' said Brenda.
'Ah! then you follow the majority, which, by the way, is composed of mere casual observers?'
'I do not know that I follow the majority; but I am of opinion that Alice has never loved Alfred Huston, because there was someone else.'
'That is following the majority,' observed Mrs. Wylie complacently.
'And,' continued the girl in a hard voice, 'that other person is Theo Trist.'
'Majority,' murmured the widow sweetly.
'Even,' continued Brenda after a little pause, 'if things are as you say, it is horribly sad, and there is no alleviation. It is very hard that Alice should only realize now that she loved him. The rest of her life will be ... what will it be?'
'I believe,' answered the older woman, with that practical philosophy which seems to be a growth of years only, 'that Alice loved him as much as lay in her nature. I am afraid, my dear, that your sister is incapable of a great and lasting passion, such as is usually considered desirable, although it invariably wrecks a life or two.'