“Any sudden trouble?”
“Oh, yes, a tempest and tempests.”
“Possess me of all, daughter.”
“I can not. It’s every thing. I seem so useless and nobody loves me!”
“Thou art too young to be morbid and art greatly beloved by One.”
“Oh, I can not come to Him. I’m under His ban; I do not honor my parents. How can I? One, my father, I never knew. I’ve seen him through my mother’s eyes, and to despise. Now I am afraid of her, and my terror is poisoning the love I once felt for her. Oh, I’m miserable, lost! Father, Father, save me!” And the wretched girl flung her arms passionately about the old priest.
“Ah, girl, I can not; but there is One that can save.”
“Save, save me—one so lost?”
“He is a ‘Prince and a Saviour.’”
“I do not know Him. He can not love me, and one must love me to save me; I’m so needy and wicked.”