Christopher laughed at her silence . `` I guess you 're a little jealous , '' he said . `` You must have expected I would get married some time . This house is big enough for us all . You 'd better look at the matter sensibly , Eunice . Do n't let Charles and Caroline put nonsense into your head . A man must marry to please himself . '' Christopher was out late that night . Eunice waited up for him , as she always did . It was a chilly spring evening , reminding her of the night her mother had died . The kitchen was in spotless order , and she sat down on a stiff-backed chair by the window to wait for her brother . She did not want a light . The moonlight fell in with faint illumination . Outside , the wind was blowing over a bed of new-sprung mint in the garden , and was suggestively fragrant . It was a very old-fashioned garden , full of perennials Naomi Holland had planted long ago . Eunice always kept it primly neat . She had been working in it that day , and felt tired . She was all alone in the house and the loneliness filled her with a faint dread . She had tried all that day to reconcile herself to Christopher 's marriage , and had partially succeeded . She told herself that she could still watch over him and care for his comfort .
She would even try to love Victoria ; after all , it might be pleasant to have another woman XXXXX the house .
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