"I feel," she said, "I feel as if we were being taken up into heaven."
"Oh, that we were!" said Isabel, speaking suddenly with a force that had in it something terrible. "Do you see those golden peaks, sweetheart? That is where I would be. That is where the gates of Heaven open--where the lost are found."
Dinah's hand was clasped in hers under the fur rug, and she felt the thin fingers close with a convulsive hold.
Scott leaned forward. "Heaven is nearer to us than that, Isabel," he said gently.
She looked at him for a moment, but her eyes at once passed beyond. "No, no, Stumpy! You never understand," she said restlessly. "I must reach the mountain-tops or die. I am tired--I am tired of my prison. And I stifle in the valley--I who have watched the sun rise and set from the very edge of the world. Why did they take me away? If I had only waited a little longer--a little longer--as he told me to wait!" Her voice suddenly vibrated with a craving that was passionate. "He would have come with the next sunrise. I always knew that the dawn would bring him back to me. But"--dull despair took the place of longing--"they took me away, and the sun has never shone since."
"Isabel!" Scott's voice was very grave and quiet. "Miss Bathurst will wonder what you mean. Don't forget her!"
Dinah pressed close to her friend's side. "Oh, but I do understand!" she said softly. "And, dear Mrs. Everard, I wish I could help you. But I think Mr. Studley must be right. It is easier to get to heaven than to climb those mountain-peaks. They are so very steep and far away."
"So is Heaven, child," said Isabel, with a sigh of great weariness.
As it were with reluctance, she again met the steady gaze of Scott's eyes, and gradually her mood seemed to change. Her brief animation dropped away from her; she became again passive, inert, save that she still seemed to be watching.
Scott broke the silence, kindly and practically. "We ought to reach the châlet at the head of the pass soon," he said. "You will be glad of some tea."
"Oh, are we going to stop for tea?" said Dinah.
"That's the idea," said Scott. "And then back by another way. We ought to get a good view of the sunset. I hope it won't be misty, but they say a change is coming."