“ ‘Then she, no more delaying, entered straight;
Shame, which had lingered in her downcast eyes,
Departed shamed. And like the mighty deep
Which sees the moon and rises, all his life
Uprose to drink her beams.’ ”
He laid the book aside and extinguished the little lamp, so that only the moonlight was about them.
After a while, he said,—
“My daughter, the God leads you in strange ways. Yet, whatever the hearts of men, he is true. Offer him your heart in all purity, and in the end it shall be well with you. We will speak of this no more.”
“But, Father beloved, do you not share my joy?” she said tremulously.
He was silent.