Before the great mysteries of life her soul grew frozen and appalled.
It seemed to her, as she sat there in the fading light, that this is the bitter lesson of existence: that the sacred serves only to teach the full meaning of sacrilege; the beautiful of the hideous; modesty of outrage; joy of sorrow; life of death.
. . . .
Is life indeed over for Judith, or at least all that makes life beautiful, worthy—a thing in any way tolerable?
The ways of joy like the ways of sorrow are many; and hidden away in the depths of Judith’s life—though as yet she knows it not—is the germ of another life, which shall quicken, grow, and come forth at last. Shall bring with it no doubt, pain and sorrow, and tears; but shall bring also hope and joy, and that quickening of purpose which is perhaps as much as any of us should expect or demand from Fate.
THE END.
Richard Clay and Sons, Limited,
LONDON AND BUNGAY.
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
marrigeable Gentile=> marriageable Gentile {pg 35}
her nephews first=> her nephew’s first {pg 211}