Page:Between Two Loves.djvu/95

90 him. He was thinking of Sarah, and of the ungrateful brother for whom she had sacrificed so much of her life. Jonathan heard the story with pity and indignation. He knew, also, that if Steve were doing badly it was all the worse for his own hopes, and he did think it hard that a love as faithful as that he gave Sarah should be constantly put behind the weak, wavering, selfish affection which Steve only used as a claim upon her generosity or her forbearance.

As for Steve and Joyce, Sarah had forgiven them so much that they thought her anger at the christening slight very unreasonable. Joyce, too, soon began to miss her willing hand, and also the generosity with which she had ever been ready to open her purse towards the small, uncalculated demands incidental to house-keeping, the half-pound of butter necessary to tide over the time before Steve's wages were due, the little luxury that an unexpected visitor demanded, the shilling for baby's medicine, the half-crown short of the rent money. She had expected that Sarah would stay away for a week, but when the offended girl made no advances toward a reconciliation, Joyce felt