"Who, then, is this, that He commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?" Leonard heard her murmur these words.
"Who, indeed?" he said. "How can man deny God in the face of this?"
"In the face of anything?"
"Or deny His Revelation? Natalie, it is true."
"Is it true?"
"As true as the waters or the sky—Natalie, Natalie, it is true."
His tone trembled with a tenderness deeper than the tenderness of passion. She looked and saw his eyes with a sheen of tears upon them; no gleam of earthly desire looked out of them, but the yearning for a soul. In the presence of the Majesty of God the nobler spirit had awakened and answered to the longing of the girl to know the secret of the waves, the rocks, the skies; the secret of herself and of the man beside her—the eternal truth, hidden always, yet always half revealed to questioning man.
"Religion is very dear to you, Leonard?"
"Dearer than all but God Himself. Dearer than riches, honors—dearer, Natalie, than the love I bear for you."
It was said without the usual intent of lover's vows, and so she understood it. She made no answer.