The young rector looked at her sadly, almost severely. "There, Miss Brent, we touch on inscrutable things, and human reason must leave the answer to faith."
Justine pondered. "So that—one may say—Christianity recognizes no exceptions—?"
"None—none," its authorized exponent pronounced emphatically.
"Then Christianity and science are agreed." She rose, and the young rector, with visible reluctance, stood up also.
"That, again, is one of the most striking evidences—" he began; and then, as the necessity of taking leave was forced upon him, he added appealingly: "I understand your uncertainties, your questionings, and I wish I could have made my point clearer——"
"Thank you; it is quite clear. The reasons, of course, are different; but the result is exactly the same."
She held out her hand, smiling sadly on him, and with a sudden return of youth and self-consciousness, he murmured shyly: "I feel for you"—the man in him yearning over her loneliness, though the pastor dared not press his help....
XXVIII
That evening, when Justine took her place at the bedside, and the other two nurses had gone down to supper, Bessy turned her head slightly, resting her eyes on her friend.