It was wavy still, and soft and luxurient, but it
was iron grey, and she wore it plain, in a knot at the back of her head,
and only a few short hairs, which would curl about her forehead in spite
of her, softened the severity of her face. Just when the change began in
his sister. Burton could not remember, for, on the rare occasions when
he visited his home he had not been a close observer, and had only been
conscious of a desire to shorten his stay as much as possible, and
return to his aunt's house, which was much more to his taste. He should
die if he had to live in that lonely spot, he thought, and in his newly
awakened pity for his sister, he said to her, impulsively:
"Don't go back there to stay. Live with me. I am all alone, and must
have some one to keep my house. Von and I can get on nicely together."
He made no mention of his father, and he did not half mean what he said
to his sister, and had she accepted his offer he would have regretted
that it had ever been made. But she did not accept it, and she answered
him at once:
"No, Burton, so long as father lives I must stay with him, and you will
be happier without than with me.
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