Sentence:  Next to the Blackwells , Titus had owned the island most , and she and Adelia had often <WSD>stood</WSD> in front of him , silenced by his terrible years - a scanty man with a thin beard and very deep-set blue eyes like a mariner , more aged than possible . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  occupy a place or location, also metaphorically