And so on through the psalm to the assurance at the end, "And I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever." Now and then there was a death behind
one of the white screens. It caused little change in the routine of the
ward. A nurse stayed behind the screen, and her work was done by the
others. When everything was over, the time was recorded exactly on the
record, and the body was taken away.
At first it seemed to Sidney that she could not stand this nearness to
death. She thought the nurses hard because they took it quietly. Then she
found that it was only stoicism, resignation, that they had learned. These
things must be, and the work must go on. Their philosophy made them no
less tender. Some such patient detachment must be that of the angels who
keep the Great Record.
On her first Sunday half-holiday she was free in the morning, and went to
church with her mother, going back to the hospital after the service. So
it was two weeks before she saw Le Moyne again. Even then, it was only for
a short time. Christine and Palmer Howe came in to see her, and to inspect
the balcony, now finished.
But Sidney and Le Moyne had a few words together first.
There was a change in Sidney. Le Moyne was quick to see it. She was a
trifle subdued, with a puzzled look in her blue eyes. Her mouth was
tender, as always, but he thought it drooped. There was a new atmosphere
of wistfulness about the girl that made his heart ache.
They were alone in the little parlor with its brown lamp and blue silk
shade, and its small nude Eve--which Anna kept because it had been a gift
from her husband, but retired behind a photograph of the minister, so that
only the head and a bare arm holding the apple appeared above the reverend
gentleman.
K. never smoked in the parlor, but by sheer force of habit he held the pipe
in his teeth.
"And how have things been going?" asked Sidney practically.
"Your steward has little to report. Aunt Harriet, who left you her love,
has had the complete order for the Lorenz trousseau. She and I have picked
out a stunning design for the wedding dress. I thought I'd ask you about
the veil. We're rather in a quandary. Do you like this new fashion of
draping the veil from behind the coiffure in the back--"
Sidney had been sitting on the edge of her chair, staring.