“God, Thou lovest me!” she said in her heart. He was there, somewhere beyond those stars. He would know what she was thinking. “I know but little of Thee; I desire to know more. Thou, who lovest me, tell some one to teach me!”
It would have astonished her to be told that such unuttered longings for the knowledge of God could be of the nature of prayer. Brought up in intense formalism, it never occurred to her that it was possible to pray without an image, a crucifix, or a pair of beads. She crept to her poor straw pallet, and lay down. But the latest thought in her heart, ere she dropped asleep, was, “God loves me; God will take care of me, and teach me.” She would have been startled to hear that this was faith. Faith, to her, meant relying on the priest, and obeying the Church. But was there no whisper—unheard even by herself—
“O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt?”
Note 1. This, I am sorry to say, was a lady without a head. It probably indicated the residence of an old bachelor.
Note 2. The barb was a plaiting of white linen, which was fastened at the chin, and entirely covered the neck.
Note 3. Sack appears to have been a general name for white wine, especially the sweeter kinds.