er hair.

"First," she said, "we shall have to call my brother. Then go to your
father."

At these words, which could be interpreted as a promise of assistance,
Judith laid down her head, and let tears at last have their way with
her. In floods, more and more uncontrolled they came. Celia stood over
her, but even a racking compassion could not make her touch the
heaving figure. "The fault was more mine than yours," she said, with
dry lips and inexpressive voice, like that of an oracle, or a sleeper
speaking. "In the bottom of my heart I must have always known that the
blame of our silly feud was with me. With a word I could have set
everything right. What are you?... A leaf in your own passions. But I
know what I am about, and do what I do deliberately.

"And with a heart just a little larger ... but now, as you say,
between us, we've done it. But you need not blame yourself as much as
me.... Come. You must go outside and remain with ... with him, while I
explain to my brother. In a moment it will be sunrise."

As Judith's strength and command over her will seemed now to have
forsaken her, Celia helped her to her feet and guided her out of the
house. It was a shock, turning the corner, to find the carriage
directly at hand, high upon the lawn. The pearl-grey carriage-rug lay
massed upon the seat.

The sweet daylight brightening over all the familiar things had its
moment of trying to convince that the strange and terrible must be
unreal. Only, there upon the carriage-seat lay the proof that the past
belief was true. Celia stood, her eyes held by it, a chill from it
stealing congealingly upon her. And as at the sight, with the horror,
the sorrowfulness of it all smote her directly upon the heart,--and
the sense, at last fully brought home, of the ruin of the most
adorable thing the earth had given her to know wrung from her a
scalding quintessence of tears,--her eyes closed against the image
that would form of what the grey folds concealed, and her figure
swayed. Judith, beside her, had been struggling to screw her nerve to
the point where it might be subjected once more to the strain that had
broken it down; but at the sight in accusing daylight of the burden
which must be taken up again, her whole being recoiled with such
violence that her head jerked convulsively back and her hand reached
out for something steadying--and the two women, in a common anguish
before their work, clung to each other for support.