CHAPTER XXIV

dress,movingquietlyabout,findingseatsforpeople,consultinginundertoneswithministerandundertaker,marshallingthe“mourners”intotheparlour,wassodecorousandproperandStirlingishthatherfamilytookheartofgrace.Thiswasnot—couldnotbe—thegirlwhohadsatallnightinthewoodswithBarneySnaith—whohadgonetearingbareheadedthroughDeerwoodandPortLawrence.ThiswastheValancytheyknew.Really,surprisinglycapableandefficient.Perhapsshehadalwaysbeenkeptdownabittoomuch—Ameliareallywasratherstrict—hadn’thadachancetoshowwhatwasinher.SothoughttheStirlings.AndEdwardBeck,fromthePortroad,awidowerwithalargefamilywhowasbeginningtotakenotice,tooknoticeofValancyandthoughtshemightmakeamightyfinesecondwife.Nobeauty—butafifty-year-oldwidower,Mr.Becktoldhimselfveryreasonably,couldn’texpecteverything.Altogether,itseemedthatValancy’smatrimonialchanceswereneversobrightastheywereatCeciliaGay’sfuneral. WhattheStirlingsandEdwardBeckwouldhavethoughthadtheyknown