There, while unable, after hours of weeping, to tear herself from

the grave of her father and protector, had she in her utter

desolation been startled by the summons, not only to attend to the

wounded stranger, but to lodge him in the chancel. 'Only this was

wanting,' was the first thought in her desolation, for this had

been her own most cherished resort. Either the bise, or fear of

a haunted spot, or both, had led to the nailing up of boards over

the dividing screen, so that the chancel was entirely concealed

from the church; and no one ever thought of setting foot there till

Eustacie, whose Catholic reverence was indestructible, even when

she was only half sure that it was not worse than a foible, had

stolen down thither, grieved at its utter desolation, and with fond

and careful hands had cleansed it, and amended the ruin so far as

she might. She had no other place where she was sure of being

uninterrupted; and here had been her oratory, where she daily

prayed, and often came to hide her tears and rally her spirits

through that long attendance on her fatherly friend. It had been a

stolen pleasure. Her reverent work there, if once observed, would

have been treated as rank idolatry; and it was with consternation

as well as grief that she found, by the Captain's command, that

this her sanctuary and refuge was to be invaded by strange

soldiers! Little did she think---!

And thus they sat, telling each other all, on the step of the

ruined chancel, among the lights and shadows of the apse. How

unlike to stately Louvre's halls of statuary and cabinets of

porcelain, or the Arcadian groves of Montpipeau! And yet how little

they recked that they were in a beleaguered fortress, in the midst

of ruins, wounded sufferers all around, themselves in hourly

jeopardy. It was enough that they had one another. They were so

supremely happy that their minds unconsciously gathered up those

pale lights and dark fantastic shades as adjuncts of their bliss.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024