It was her twin sister, Dolores, or Dollie as she was called, and at the very first glance Marion could see that she was weeping.
In an instant she was running rapidly toward her, and as they met she threw her arms tenderly about her sister’s shoulders.
“What is it, Dollie? Has father been tormenting you about Silas again?” she asked breathlessly, at the same time brushing her sister’s golden hair back from her brow with a caressing motion.
Dollie wiped her eyes and nodded her head affirmatively.
“Yes, Marion, he has, and I can’t stand it much longer!” she cried, sobbingly. “He is just nagging at me all the time, and, oh, he is cruel, sister. Why, when I told him I did not love Silas he just sneered at me as though love was something that was not to be considered!”
“Poor father! It is little he knows of that holy sentiment,” said Marion, sadly, “but go on Dollie, what else did he say to you?”
A gleam of resentment shone in Dollie’s blue eyes, for she was always more brave when her sister’s arms were about her.
“Oh, he said I had defied him and that he would punish me for it! That a man had a right to do as he pleased with his own family, and that girls like you and me did not have a grain of sense about what was best for them!”
Marion’s gray eyes flashed as her sister talked, but she walked slowly on and did not interrupt her.