His eyes twinkled.
"I am as weary as a man can be," he said. "We have ridden since before
dawn.... And you, and your good works?"
Marjorie explained, describing to him something of the system by which
priests were safeguarded now in the north--the districts into which the
county was divided, and the apportioning of the responsibilities among
the faithful houses. It was her business, she said, to receive messages
and to pass them on; she had entertained perhaps a dozen priests since
the summer; perhaps she would entertain him, too, one day, she said.
* * * * *
The ordeal was far lighter than she had feared it would be. There was a
strong undercurrent of excitement in her heart, flushing her cheeks and
sparkling in her eyes; yet never for one moment was she even tempted to
forget that he was now vowed to God. It seemed to her as if she talked
with him in the spirit of that place where there is neither marrying nor
giving in marriage. Those two years of quiet in the north, occupied,
even more than she recognised, in the rearranging of her relations with
the memory of this young man, had done their work. She still kindled at
his presence; but it was at the presence of one who had undertaken an
adventure that destroyed altogether her old relations with him.... She
was enkindled even more by the sense of her own security; and, as she
looked at him, by the sense of his security too.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191