Gerard did not respond to it. He felt as if a snake were in the room. He closed his eyes.
"Ah thou wouldst sleep," said the miscreant eagerly. "I go."
And he retired on tiptoe with a promise to come every day.
Gerard lay with his eyes closed: not asleep, but deeply pondering.
Saved from death by an assassin!
Was not this the finger of Heaven?
Of that Heaven he had insulted, cursed, and defied.
He shuddered at his blasphemies. He tried to pray.
He found he could utter prayers. But he could not pray.