Not wishing to mar her husband’s home-coming by the expression of gloomy sentiments, she avoided the subject after she had learnt the news. Arrived at Ivydene, little Julian awoke from his sleep just in time for tea, and delighted the mother’s heart by his display of recognition and affection. Full of happiness, she assisted Anne to put him to bed, lingering by his little cot until he visited slumberland once more. Then she descended to spend a quiet evening with her husband tête-à-tête; for Mrs. Lowther considerately went to dine out with a friend.
It was not cold, but they had a fire lit for comfort’s sake, and watched the cheerfully blazing embers as they talked. They had so much to say that they scarcely knew where to begin, and enjoyed each other’s presence in silence for a little while. Patricia felt like a child who, after long waiting, had found its lost protector, and sat with her head nestled contentedly against Lionel’s shoulder. Presently, however, her curiosity got the better of her; there were so many things she wanted to know.
He answered her questions concerning his doings in Palestine with gentle patience. Their enemy, Ben Yetzel, had conquered, in so far as rigid orthodoxy throughout the Holy Land was to prevail, and he had had more than one skirmish with the Rabbi since she had taken her departure. Dr. Engelmacher, good-humoured and pliant as usual, had accepted the dictum with cheerful resignation, deeming it wiser to sacrifice his own view of the matter for the sake of peace. Most of the English people who availed themselves of the repealing of the Act retained a financial interest in Palestine, which would result in a constant communication between the two countries. The outlook on Jewish affairs, therefore, was of the brightest, and more promising than it had been since the time of the First Dispersion.
“And Lady Montella?” asked Patricia, when he had finished. “Did she approve of your returning to England and me, or would she have been better pleased if you had remained out there in spite of the cancelling of the Edict?”
“I am not sure, dear,” was her husband’s reply. “My mother is so fond of the Holy Land that she would have been delighted had I chosen to stay; but I should have been more than human had I remained under those circumstances. When the path which led to you became easy, how could I refrain from taking it? Only an exaggerated sense of duty would have made me act otherwise. Besides I wanted you so much, my darling. Those eight months of our separation were the hardest of my life.”
“And of mine,” she added softly, with a fervent pressure of his hand. “But, Lionel, I am surprised that your mother allowed you to bring baby Julian back to me. She seemed to think that I had no further right to him since I could not teach him orthodox Judaism.”
“I took the law into my hands in this instance, dear,” he answered, dispelling the pucker on her brow with a kiss. “I told her that Julian was your child as well as mine, and that I was determined you should educate him in accordance with your conscience until he grew old enough to choose for himself. Besides, there’s Ferdinand now to keep up the old traditions of the House; and as he has married a Jewess, we can reasonably hope for a Jewish heir.”
“And you will not expect me to feign Judaism any more?” she asked wistfully.
“Certainly not. We shall settle the question by introducing a Jewish housekeeper to do all that is necessary. I have thoroughly made up my mind that the difference-in-creed bogey shall never come between us again. I am a Jew, and you are a Christian, and so long as we do our duty according to our respective convictions, no one has a right to expect any more. Thank God, there is now neither a fanatical Chief Rabbi nor a foolish Assimilation Act to interfere. We are free at last, and in such freedom there is happiness for us both. Set your mind at rest, my dear one; the troubles of the past can never return.”
And Patricia gave a sigh of relief as she gazed into the heart of the fire. How broad-minded he was, and noble, and true!