“Well then,” said a young man who had just entered, “it is well known that Vestein and her father and mother were all fully willing. The girl could as easily have gone out of the door as the window. Snackoll is a boaster. He is as great in his talk as a fox in his tail.”
Thus the household of Ragnor talked in the kitchen, and in the parlour Rahal comforted the lovers, and cheered and encouraged Ian so greatly that she was finally able to say to them:
“The wedding day was not lucky. Let it pass. There is another, only a year away, that will bring lasting joy. Now we have wept over our mischance, we will bury it and look to the future. We will go and wash away sorrow and put on fresh clothes, and look forward to the far better marriage a year hence.”
And her voice and manner were so persuasive, that they willingly obeyed her advice and, as they passed her, she kissed them both and told Ian to put his head in cold water and get rid of its aching fever, for she said, “The Bishop will want thee to sing some of thy Collects and Hymns and thou 260 wilt like to please him. He is thy good friend.”
“I do not think so.”
“He is. Thou may take that, on my word.”
The evening brought a braver spirit. They talked of Boris and of his open-hearted, open-air life, and the Bishop read aloud several letters from young men then at the front. They were full of enthusiasm. They might have been read to an accompaniment of fife and drums. Ian was visibly affected and made no further demur about joining them. One of them spoke of Boris “leading his volunteers up the hill like a lion”; and another letter described his tenderness to the wounded and convalescents, saying “he spent his money freely, to procure them little comforts they could not get for themselves.”
They talked plainly and from their hearts, hesitating not to call his name, and so they brought comfort to their heavy sorrow. For it is a selfish thing to shut up a sorrow in the heart, far better to look at it full in the face, speak of it, discuss its why and wherefore and break up that false sanctity which is very often inspired by purely selfish sentiments. And when this point was reached, the Bishop took from his pocket a small copy of the Apocrypha and said, “Now I will tell 261 you what the wisest of men said of such an early death as that of our dear Boris:
“‘He pleased God, and he was beloved of him, so that living among sinners, he was translated.
“‘Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.
“‘He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time.
“‘For his soul pleased the Lord, therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.’”
And these words fell like heavenly dew on every heart. There was no comfort and honour greater than this to offer even a mother’s heart. A happy sigh greeted the blessed verses, and there was no occasion to speak. There was no word that could be added to it.