“I see him frequently there.”
“You see him there, my daughter, when he expects you are ready to return—but never does he assist in the services of the church?”
“I am not able to assert how often he attends the church, mother; but I think as frequently as most of the young men of this department, at least, of our village.”
“That may be, my child, but it is of the general prevalence of irreligion in which it seems that Adolph shares, that I complain—and you know, my daughter, that following your father’s advice, on his death-bed, I have said in the language of the King of Israel, ‘as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ ”
“And God forbid, my dear mother, that I should hinder the fulfillment of your pious resolution, or be an exception in your religious family.”
“And yet you will be, if you yoke yourself unequally with one who, if not a heretic, is only not that from his indifference to any religion.”
“I will not, of course, assume that yoke without your approval.”
“That is in a spirit of obedience; but, my daughter, it would be better if instead of limiting yourself not to marry any one without my approval, you would consent to advise with me as to some proper person among your acquaintance whom you would marry.”
“My dear mother, the only equality in such a yoke of convenience would be the perfect indifference with which each would regard the other.”
Louise was not a little shocked at the remarks made by her mother. She loved Adolph, and she knew well enough that he did not frequent the church, though she had never heard him ridicule religion, his respect for her and her religious habits would have prevented that outrage. But she could not shut her eyes to the fact that Adolph lived out of the influences of her church, and she knew well that her mother would never consent to her union with such a man. She mingled the subject in her prayers before she sought her bed, and gave the whole night to the anxiety which it caused.