Except that he was fairly
conversant with the use of weapons, and had occasionally ridden
beyond the shadow of his own mountain, his range was quite as limited
as his sister's; and he had an equal scorn for all beyond it. His
unfailing kindness to his sister was however in his favour, and he
always eagerly followed up any suggestion Christina made for her
pleasure.
Much of his time was spent on the child, whose chief nurse and
playmate he had been throughout her malady; and when she showed him
the stranger's arrangements, or repeated to him, in a wondering,
blundering way, with constant appeals to her attendant, the new tales
she had heard, he used to listen with a pleased awkward amazement at
his little Ermentrude's astonishing cleverness, joined sometimes with
real interest, which was evinced by his inquiries of Christina. He
certainly did not admire the little, slight, pale bower-maiden, but
he seemed to look upon her like some strange, almost uncanny, wise
spirit out of some other sphere, and his manner towards her had none
of the offensive freedom apparent in even the old man's patronage.
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