Chantry was worried about many things, but one thing he worried about especially was what would become of Maria when he was gone. That time would be here soon enough and he didn't yet have an answer.
Maria was strong, but in some ways she was too strong. A big enough force could cause her to break, because of how rigid she was in her control over herself and her emotions that she never really let out. Who would be there to pick up the pieces?
Chantry didn't know and it kept him up at night, along with his insomnia. There were mysteries about Maria that he had never been able to discern, even though he had prayed and sought answers earnestly for many years in regard to her.
The first mystery was that he knew absolutely nothing of Maria's origin of birth. Oh she had a cover story that would fool the most acute of observers, but that was all that it was, an elaborate cover. She fit her cover well.
Supposedly, she had been born in Spain to a Spanish mother and an Arabic father. That certainly explained her olive skinned Middle Eastern look well enough, but if Chantry had to guess he would say she was all Middle Eastern with no Spanish added in. Other than that there was little to go on and he had never confronted her on the matter.
Maria hated Muslims with an unreasoning passion, as indicative of a Ku Klux Klan member and a person of black skin color. It was another clue that hinted at an origin in the Middle East and not that of Europe. Once aware of her unbridled aversion to all things Muslim Chantry had made it a point to never assign her to a mission where she could come in contact with large numbers of Muslims, which had been a hard thing to manage over the years.
Chantry had never felt that he had to help win her soul for God, as she already seemed to have faith. A faith that he'd never really seen her practice, but was there nonetheless. He'd gotten the perception that she was angry with God at first, but then once in conversation, in a moment when she had been rarely unguarded with her words, she had said that she was most cursed by God of all the women to walk the Earth. The statement at the time had astounded Chantry and he had asked how that could possibly be, but she'd said no more on the matter.
In addition to her hatred of all things Muslim she hated any male that expressed a desire for intimacy with her and in general she disliked most men other than those she respected such as himself, Flint, and perhaps Tyre. Chantry had at first attributed Maria's aversion to men to some past sexual abuse and perhaps an overbearing father figure, but in time he had rejected those conjectures of her as well.