Her own kindred would wish to understand the reason.  The branches of these scattered far and near were prominent each in its sphere, and all were intimately bound together by the one passion of clannish allegiance to the family past.  She knew that Rowan’s attentions had continued so long and had been so marked, that her grandmother had accepted marriage between them as a foregone conclusion, and in letters had disseminated these prophecies through the family connection.  Other letters had even come back to Isabel, containing evidence only too plain that Rowan had been discussed and accepted in domestic councils.  Against all inward protests of delicacy, she had been forced to receive congratulations that in this marriage she would preserve the traditions of the family by bringing into it a man of good blood and of unspotted name; the two idols of all the far separated hearthstones.

To the pride of all these relatives she added her own pride—­the highest.  She was the last of the women in the direct line yet unwedded, and she was sensitive that her choice should not in honor and in worth fall short of the alliances that had preceded hers.  Involved in this sense of pride she felt that she owed a duty to the generations who had borne her family name in this country and to the still earlier generations who had given it distinction in England—­land of her womanly ideals.  To discard now without a word of explanation the man whose suit she had long been understood to favor would create wide disappointment and provoke keen question.

Further difficulties confronted her from Rowan’s side.  His own family and kindred were people strong and not to be trifled with, proud and conservative like her own.  Corresponding resentments would be aroused among them, questions would be asked that had no answers.  She felt that her life in its most private and sacred relation would be publicly arraigned and have open judgment passed upon it by conflicting interests and passions—­and that the mystery which contained her justification must also forever conceal it.

Nevertheless Rowan must be discarded; she must act quickly and for the best.

On the very threshold one painful necessity faced her:  the reserve of years must be laid aside and her grandmother admitted to confidence in her plans.  Anything that she might do could not escape those watchful eyes long since grown impatient.  Moreover despite differences of character, she and her grandmother had always lived together, and they must now stand together before their world in regard to this step.

“Did you wish to see me about anything, grandmother?”

Mrs. Conyers had not heard Isabel’s quiet entrance.  She was at the window still:  she turned softly in her chair and looked across the darkened room to where Isabel sat facing her—­a barely discernible white figure.