As Magdalen and Fay sat together on the terrace in front of the house, the contrast between the sisters was more marked than the ten years' difference of age seemed to warrant.
Magdalen was a tall, thin woman of thirty-five, who looked older than her age.

She had evidently been extremely pretty once.

Perhaps she might even have been young once.

But it must have been a long time ago.

She was a faded, distinguished-looking person, with a slight stoop, and a worn, delicately-featured face, and humorous, tranquil eyes.