“Nay, I’ve said all I need, and maybe more than I should.”
“Doth Master Clere go now to mass, Bessy?”
“Oh, ay, as regular as any man in the town, and the mistress belike. The net’s drawing closer, Rose. The time will soon come when even you and I, low down as we are, shall have to make choice, with death at the end of one way.”
“Ay, I’m afeard so,” said Rose gravely. “Bessy, think you that you can stand firm?”
“Firm as a rock, if God hold me up; weak and shifting as water, if He hold me not.”
“Ay, thou hast there the right. But we are only weak, ignorant maidens, Bessy.”
“Then is He the more likely to hold us up, since He shall see we need it rather. If thou be high up on the rock, out of reach of the waves, what matter whether thou be a stone weight or a crystal vessel? The waters beat upon the rock, not on thee.”
“But one sees them coming, Bess.”
“Well, what if thou dost? They’ll not touch thee.”
“Eh, Bess, the fire ’ll touch us, be sure!”