And insidiously, he strove to remove every misgiving, and to present his temptation in forms more and more alluring, till he had made evil appear as good, and well-nigh persuaded Juliet that that from which she at first had shrunk as a suggestion of wickedness, was in fact a positive duty.
[CHAPTER XV]
JULIET LEAVES HOME
THE special services conducted by the Rev. Arthur Mainprice at St. Jude's Church excited considerable interest, and were largely attended. Juliet's mother and sisters went to several of them, and did their best to persuade her to accompany them. But in vain they spoke with enthusiasm of the preacher's eloquence, and repeated many of his earnest, pointed words. Juliet would not betray the least interest in him or his sayings. She had no wish to listen to the preaching of a man who had presumed to say that he was sorry for her.
If the words he spoke in private were so ill-chosen, his pulpit utterances might be still more objectionable. Moreover, Juliet was quick to perceive that her elders were anxious that she should attend the services, thinking that they would "do her good," and this perception was sufficient to drive her into an obstinate determination that to not one of the services would she go.
But, notwithstanding her apparent indifference, Juliet took a keen interest in what was going on. No words which the others let fall concerning Mr. Mainprice escaped her ears. She was quick to see that one evening Salome came back from church with eyelids suspiciously red, and she was aware of a change in her sister during the days that followed. It provoked her that Salome should present an invulnerable front to the darts of her sarcasm, and that her stinging words should meet with no like retort. She could not quarrel alone, and she felt vexed with Salome for declining to play her wonted part. It hurt her sorely when Salome one day took considerable pains in order to render her a service. She did not want Salome to begin to evince tokens of kindliness. She wanted her to continue to be disagreeable, and everything in the house to be as unpleasant as possible, that it might be easier to do that which she was secretly planning.
Much as Juliet had resented Mr. Mainprice's words, at times she could almost have owned that they were not uttered without cause. There were moments when she was sorry for herself, when a horror of what lay before her took possession of her mind, and she was ready to cry out to be delivered from her own way. Often at night, when Mrs. Tracy imagined Juliet to be tranquilly sleeping, the girl was shedding tears and stifling sobs, which threatened to disturb her mother. But with the morning light, glowing visions of the future would visit her again, and self-will urge her forward along the path she had chosen.
"Mother," asked Hannah one day, "have you and Juliet come to any decision with regard to our removing from this house? Here is another quarter more than half gone. It is really time something was definitely settled."
"Nothing is decided, dear, and I do not know what to say about it. Juliet appears to have lost her interest in the matter of late. She does not seem to care whether we go or stay."
"That is like Juliet. A little while ago she was so impatient to move into a larger house that she thought we could make every arrangement and get out of this in six weeks' time. I never knew such a creature of moods and tenses as she is."