At that supreme moment, when the sense of the glorious vindication of Christ flooded the priest's whole being with ecstasy, he knew, perhaps, a faint foreshadowing of the life the Blessed live in Heaven.
For a few brief moments that imperfect instrument, the human body, was permitted a glimpse, a flash of the eternal joy prepared for the saints of God.
The vicar drew very near the Veil.
Helena beat at the door; he opened to her, the tall, gracious lady.
She saw the news in her father's face.
They embraced with deep and silent emotion.
Two hours later the vicarage was full of people.
The news had arrived.
Special editions of the evening papers were being shouted through the streets. Downing Street had spoken, and in Manchester—as in almost every great city in England—the Truth was pulsing and throbbing in the air, spreading from house to house, from heart to heart.