"Oh, thank you!" Dinah said gratefully. "I was afraid just for a moment, because I know I have been silly and flighty. I try to be sober when I am with her, but--"
"Don't try to be anything but yourself, Miss Bathurst!" he said. "I have confided in you just because you are yourself; and I wouldn't have you any different for the world. You help her just by being yourself."
Dinah laughed while she shook her head. "I wish I were as nice as you seem to think I am."
He laughed also. "Perhaps you have never realized how nice you really are," he returned with a simplicity equal to her own. "Ah! Here comes Isabel! I expect she is ready. We had better go in."
They met her as they turned inwards. The reflection of the sunset glory was in her face recalling some of its faded beauty. She took Dinah's arm, looking at her with a strangely wistful smile.
"I want you now, sweetheart," she said. "Scott can have his turn--afterwards."
"I want you too," said Dinah instantly, squeezing her hand very closely. "Come and look at the mountains! They are so glorious now that the sun is setting."
They turned back for a few moments and Isabel's eyes went to that far and wonderful mountain crest. The gold was turning to rose. The glory deepened even as they watched.
"The peaks of Paradise," breathed Dinah softly.
Isabel was silent for a space, her eyes fixed and yearning. Then at length in a low voice that thrilled with an emotion beyond words she spoke.
"I know now where to look. That is where he is waiting for me. That is where I shall find him."
And then swiftly she turned, aware of her brother close behind her.
He looked at her with eyes of deep compassion. "Some day, Isabel!" he said gently.
She made a swift gesture as of one who brushes aside every hindrance. "Soon!" she said. "Very soon!"
Scott's eyes met Dinah's for a single instant, and she thought they held suffering as well as weariness. But they fell immediately. He stood back in silence for them to pass.