"And then, for whole weeks, you did much more than cross after her; you hunted for her, lay in wait for her, doing nothing all the time. My dear grown-up man, wasn't that rather childish?"
"What else could I have done?"
"Made her miss you."
"Well, as we haven't seen each other since, it comes to the same thing."
"But she knows you've been there; she would have thought much more of you if you hadn't been."
"Why?"
"It would have made her more repentant. Now she only thinks that you've tired of it."
"Ah, well, she promised to pray for me," said Max.
"Oh, I pray for you, my dear," sighed the Countess; "not that I suppose that does any good!"
And therein may be discerned a difference between the two women who most concerned themselves for the good of Max's soul; for the other had been quite confident that her prayers would do good. And it is curious how often those who have faith prove to be in the right.