er affection for him. They were made to be
friends; in both were the same absolute honesty of character, the same
silent depths of tenderness, the same stern self-respect. Brother and
sister henceforth, with the bond of a common love which time, whether
it brought joy or sorrow, could but knit closer.

From the first there was, of course, an understanding that the marriage
should take place as soon as the house was ready for Gilbert's tenancy.
Thyrza went secretly and examined the dwelling from the outside, more
than once. That Lydia would come and live there went without saying.
She pretended to oppose this plan at first; said she must be
independent.

'Very well,' said Thyrza, crossing her hands on her lap, 'then I shan't
be married at all, Lyddy, and Mr. Grail had better be told at once.'

There was laughing, and there were kind words.

'I don't think you ought still to call him Mr. Grail,' said Lydia.

'Gilbert? I shall have to say it to myself for a few days. Still, it's
a nice name, isn't it?'

Yes, that point needed no discussion; where Thyrza abode, there abode
Lydia, until--but sadness lay that way. Mrs. Grail was equally clear as
to the arrangements concerning herself; she would keep two rooms and
continue to live in Walnut Tree Walk. Thyrza thought this would be
unkindness to the old lady, but Mrs. Grail had a store of wisdom and
was resolute. In practice, she said, she would not at all feel the
loneliness; she could often be at the house, and it had occurred to her
that her son in the Midlands would be glad to send one of his two girls
to live with her for, say, half a year at a time. Gilbert understood
the good sense of this disposition.

The weather continued doleful, until at length, in the last week of
February, there came a sudden change. A rioting east wind fell upon the
murky vapours of the lower sky, broke up the league of rain and
darkness, and through one spring-heralding day drove silver fleece over
deeps of clear, cold blue. The streets were swept of mire; eaves ceased
to distil their sooty rheum; even in the back-ways of Lambeth there was
a sunny gleam on windows and a clear ring in all the sounds of life.

It was Saturday. Between Egremont and Grail it had been decided that
the latter should to-day take Thyrza to inspect the house. Egremont had
gained the surly compliance of the caretaker--the most liberal
treatment made no difference in the strange old woman's moroseness--and
Grail, p