"Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight."...
"And an highway shall be there ... the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return" ...
... "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
And their last hour came back to her with its mysterious, sweet and powerful passion that had no fear in it; and she laid hold again on the Reality they had seen and felt together.
The moment passed. She wanted it to come back, for as long as it lasted she was at peace.
But it did not come back. Nothing came back but her anguish of remorse for all that she had wasted.
XXI
After Drayton's death Frances and Anthony were sobered and had ceased to feed on illusions. The Battle of the Marne was fought in vain for them. They did not believe that it had saved Paris.
Then came the fall of Antwerp and the Great Retreat. There was no more Belgium. The fall of Paris and the taking of Calais were only a question of time, of perhaps a very little time. Then there would be no more France. They were face to face with the further possibility of there being no more England.