to adore her in his sulky, inarticulate way. Well, he would think of
her no more, but she was subtly bound to him, first by his need, and
now, against all reason, by her thoughts. She had already learnt that
time, which sometimes seems so swift and heartless, is also slow and
kind. Her feelings would lose their intensity; she only had to wait,
and she waited with that outward impassivity which did not spoil her
beauty; it suited the firm modelling of her features, the creamy
whiteness of her skin, the clear grey eyes under the straight dark
eyebrows, and the lips bent into the promise of a smile.

Caroline and Sophia waited differently, first for the afternoon milk
and the information they wanted and, during the next weeks, for the
rumours which slowly developed into acknowledged facts. The
housekeeper at Sales Hall had heard from the young master: he was
married and returning immediately with his wife. Caroline sniffed and
hoped the woman was respectable; Sophia was charitably certain she
would be a charming girl; and Rose, knowing she questioned one of the
life occupations of her stepsisters, said coolly, 'Why speculate? We
shall see her soon. We must go and call.'

'Of course,' Caroline said, and Sophia, with her fixed idea, which was
right in the wrong way, said gently, 'If you're sure you want to go,
dear.'

'Me?' asked Caroline.

'No, no, I was thinking of Rose.'

'Nonsense!' Caroline said, 'we're all going'; and Rose reassured
Sophia with perfect truth, 'I have been longing to see her for weeks.'