To be sure she had not eloped, but when she looked
into her own heart she had to confess to herself that she would have
married Reginald even if her parents had refused their consent. So,
as the intent makes the offence, she forgave Maude for her escapade,
and during their stay at the Hall they manifested more sisterly
regard for each other than they had ever before shown.
Reginald and Harry "hitched horses" at once. Men who marry sisters
are united by a stronger tie than the usual brother-in-law bond, and
the Englishman and the American felicitated themselves upon their
capture of the Sawyer sisters. They played billiards on a table where
the balls had not clicked for a generation. They smoked in a room
which had been free from the odour of tobacco for a score of years.
They rode horseback upon steeds whose principal duty, as Harry
expressed it, had been to "heat their 'eads horff." They even fished
in the miniature lake and gave their catch to dogs who knew so little
about real sport that they thought the fish were game. They took long
walks together and knew by name every man, woman, and child on the
estate. The conservative Englishman, if alone, would not have gone so
far, but the democratic American took the lead, and politeness, if
not inclination, forced his companion to follow.
They often passed an evening with Sir Stuart in his library.
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