When spring came Derek had the new red sleigh stored away under canvas. He heaved a deep sigh as he gave the order, for there had been no snow all winter, and the sleigh had never been out of the carriage house. Still, it had been a pleasant winter, days when there was always something of interest on the farm, long evenings spent before the fireside at Durras. His relations with Grace Jerrold had become happy again, though not quite so happy as before Edmund's visit. Still, sometimes there were little flashes of atoning tenderness between them, when her gentle, ironic smile would become almost maternal.
At Grimstone things went very well, though there was occasionally some roughness of temper in the men thrown together so constantly, with little amusement, except what they made for themselves. Windmill came in for a good deal of chaff because of his attentions to Miss Carss. They were often seen walking on the bluffs in the moonlight, his arm about her shapely waist, and her long scarf streaming in the wind.
Phœbe lost a front tooth in February, broken off while biting a hard russet apple. Not at all abashed by the loss, she smiled, it seemed, more broadly than ever, as though she were rather proud of the gap. It was evident that she was secure in Hugh's love and admiration; as a matter of truth, no man could look on the milk and roses of Phœbe's
108
