She tried to laugh and broke down. He caught her up in his arms. Light as thistledown, young and lovely!
She sobbed on his heart, but she held to her high resolve. He must go—and she would stay. And at last he gave in.
He had loved her dearly, but he had not looked for this, that she would give herself to hardness for the sake of another. For the first time he saw in his little wife something of the heroic quality which had seemed to set his mother apart and above, as it were, all other women.
BOOK THREE
The Bugle Calls
The wooden trumpeters that were carved on the door blew with all their might, so that their cheeks were much larger than before. Yes, they blew "Trutter-a-trutt—trutter-a-trutt—" …
CHAPTER XXIII
THE EMPTY HOUSE
Jean's world was no longer wonderful—not in the sense that it had once been, with all the glamour of girlish dreams and of youthful visions.