And as
Babie listened, the large soft tears began to fall, drop by drop, and
the elder brother's anxiety was lessened. He made them eat and drink
for one another's sake, and watched over them with a care that was
almost parental, till at nearly half-past twelve o'clock the other
three came home.
They said Mrs. Evelyn had come fully prepared by the telegram, and
under an inexplicable certitude which made it needless to speak the
word to her. She was thankful that Marmaduke had been spared the
protracted weeks of struggle in which his elder brothers' lives had
closed, and she said—-
"We knew each other too well to need last words."
Indeed she was in the exalted state that often makes the earlier
hours and days of bereavement the least distressing, and Sydney was
absorbed in the care of her. Neither had been nearly so much
overcome as Cecil and Esther, who had been hunted up with difficulty.
He seemed to be as much shocked and horrified as if his brother had
been in the strongest possible health; and poor Esther felt it wicked
and unfeeling to have been dancing, and cried so bitterly that the
united efforts of her aunt and brother could not persuade her that
what was done in simple duty and obedience need give no pang, and
that Mrs.
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