Rose smiled. She thought few would be surprised. She took Robert's hand in hers and clasped it warmly.
"She is a dear good girl," she said. "You will be very happy."
He found no answer on his tongue, and although he was fully conscious of the absurdity of it, he immediately proposed that Matilda bring the Bible and that they see how much progress she had made during his absence. He politely invited Rose to listen and to Matilda's surprise she readily acquiesced, she who had always scoffed at their Bible reading. Only she begged that the poor priest read instead of Matilda.
So in his exquisitely modulated voice he began:
"For the sovereign Lord of all will not refrain himself for any man's person, neither will he reverence greatness, because it is he that made both small and great."
But while his lips uttered those words his heart sang:—
"Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet,
And thy mouth is comely:
Thou art all fair, my love;
And there is no spot in thee."