"As thou wishest."
There was a pause. Presently the woman spoke.
"Wilt thou not bring her to see me? Then she will know that thou hast no love left for me—"
He flinched as at a stab. After a painful moment he said: "Art thou in earnest?"
"I am no marriage-jester. Bring her to me—will she not come to see an invalid? It is a mitzvah (good deed) to visit the sick. It will wipe out her trespass."
"She shall come."
She came. Sarah stared at her for an instant with poignant curiosity, then her eyelids drooped to shut out the dazzle of her youth and freshness. Herzel's wife moved awkwardly and sheepishly. But she was beautiful—a buxom, comely country girl from a Russian village, with a swelling bust and a cheek rosy with health and confusion.
Sarah's breast was racked by a thousand needles. But she found breath at last.
"God bless—thee, Mrs.—Kretznow," she said gaspingly.
She took the girl's hand.