"More likely to the provinces with a band of strolling players. He told me he thought of throwing up the law for the boards, and I know you cannot make a beginning in London."
"Do you think that's it?" said Hannah, looking relieved in her turn.
"I feel sure that's the explanation, if he's not in London. But what in
Heaven's name can your father have seen him doing?"
"Nothing very dreadful, depend upon it," said Hannah, a slight shade of bitterness crossing her wistful features. "I know he's inclined to be wild, and he should never have been allowed to get the bit between his teeth, but I dare say it was only some ceremonial crime Levi was caught committing."
"Certainly. That would be it," said Esther. "He confessed to me that he was very link. Judging by your tone, you seem rather inclined that way yourself," she said, smiling and a little surprised.
"Do I? I don't know," said Hannah, simply. "Sometimes I think I'm very froom."
"Surely you know what you are?" persisted Esther. Hannah shook her head.
"Well, you know whether you believe in Judaism or not?"
"I don't know what I believe. I do everything a Jewess ought to do, I suppose. And yet—oh, I don't know."
Esther's smile faded; she looked at her companion with fresh interest. Hannah's face was full of brooding thought, and she had unconsciously come to a standstill. "I wonder whether anybody understands herself," she said reflectively. "Do you?"