"You are more generous than I
deserve," he said, his voice sunk to a whisper. "Perhaps--some
day--understanding will come. May I hope for that?"
She did not answer him, but for one intimate second her eyes looked
straight into his. Then with a little, sobbing breath she slipped her
hand free.
"We--are forgetting Robin," she said, with an effort.
He turned at once. "By George, yes! I'm afraid I had forgotten
him," he said.
They walked back along the shore side by side.
PART II
CHAPTER I
THE WAND OF OFFICE
Robin was in disgrace. He crouched in a sulky heap in a far corner of the
schoolroom, and glowered across the empty desks and benches at his elder
brother who sat in the place of authority at his writing-table with a
litter of untidy exercise-books in front of him. There was a long, thin
cane also at his elbow that had the look of a somewhat sinister wand of
office. He was correcting book after book with a species of forced
patience, that was not without an element of exasperation.
The evening sunlight slanted through the leaded windows. They were open
to their widest extent, but the place was oppressively close.
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