Naomi made no pretense of mourning for him. It was an open
secret that they had quarreled like the proverbial cat and dog.
Charles Holland and his wife had naturally sided with Benjamin,
and Naomi fought her battles single-handed. After her husband's
death, she managed to farm alone, and made it pay. When the
mysterious malady which was to end her life first seized on her
she fought against it with all the strength and stubbornness of
her strong and stubborn nature. Her will won for her an added
year of life, and then she had to yield. She tasted all the
bitterness of death the day on which she lay down on her bed, and
saw her enemy come in to rule her house.
But Caroline Holland was not a bad or unkind woman. True, she
did not love Naomi or her children; but the woman was dying and
must be looked after for the sake of common humanity. Caroline
thought she had done well by her sister-in-law.
When the red clay was heaped over Naomi's grave in the Avonlea
burying ground, Caroline took Eunice and Christopher home with
her. Christopher did not want to go; it was Eunice who
reconciled him. He clung to her with an exacting affection born
of loneliness and grief.
In the days that followed Caroline Holland was obliged to confess
to herself that there would have been no doing anything with
Christopher had it not been for Eunice. The boy was sullen and
obstinate, but his sister had an unfailing influence over him.
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