CHAPTER XIX
CONCLUSION
"And now those vivid hours are gone,
Like mine own life to me thou art.
Where past and present, wound in one,
Do make a garland for the heart."
—Tennyson.
It was the evening of the day after the picnic, and all Rushbrook had already heard the news. The Danforths had heard it in the morning from Arnold himself, and Mrs. Verdon had heard it in the afternoon from the Danforths.
Katherine Verdon was an unemotional woman. She did not feel in the least inclined to go into hysterics or make bitter speeches. Mrs. Tell, who watched her narrowly, could not detect the slightest change in her demeanour. She remarked that Miss Kilner was very pretty—really quite beautiful—and no one could be surprised at the turn that things had taken.
"I don't know," replied her sister-in-law; "I confess I am surprised. He ought to have married somebody in a better position."
"Oh, her position is good enough," Mrs. Verdon answered, "and she will suit him exactly. He is a man who will demand a great deal of devotion from his wife, and she will give him all he needs. It would have been bad for him if he had married a woman whose supply was not equal to the demand."
"What do you suppose would have happened in that case?" Mrs. Tell asked.