“She will think this right,” Damaris replied.
“And what ought we to do?” he asked, in an anguish of suspense.
“Pray Leo’s prayer,” she replied, “all of us. Teach us to think and do the things that are rightful.”
“It is an excellent prayer,” said Marius very respectfully, but not, apparently, at all consoled, “and prayer always comforts thee.”
Then the mother threw her arms around her son, and a radiant smile illumined her face as she looked up into his.
“Ethne’s heart will surely turn to thee, my son,” she said. “God has chosen her out of all the world for thee, and led her to thee, as He led Eve to Adam. Trust Him, and trust her.”
“Mother,” he said, “may I say anything to her?”
“You may say what you will,” she replied, “or what you can, whatever thy heart feels free to say, and she is willing to hear. Thou art free, and she is free. Let her choose what she will, and in her own time.”
“But my father?” he asked.