"Before me was a field of crimson clover; some brown bees were busily at work in it. There were scarlet poppies too gleaming in the hedge down below; the waves were lapping on the sands with a soft splash and ripple; beyond was the sea vast and crystalline, merged in misty blue. Did I hear it with a dull whirring of repetition, or was it the voice of my own conscience: 'For me and my house, we will serve the Lord.'
"Raby came out presently, and we walked home, still silent. The dignity of his office was upon him; his lips were moving, perhaps in petition for the dying girl.
"When we reached the house he went up to his room. The evening came. I got out our German books--Raby and I were studying together--and presently he joined me. In his absence of mind he had forgotten all about the ball, as I knew he would, and we were both absorbed in Schiller's magnificent 'Wallenstein' when Margaret entered, looking what Hugh Redmond called his 'Marguerite of Marguerites,' his pearl among women.
"'What, is it so late? You are dressed, Margaret, and this careless child has not commenced her toilet. Pray help her, Maggie, she will be dreadfully late.'
"'The carriage is here already,' she answered, quietly, 'and Mrs. Montague is waiting. Crystal is not going to the ball, Raby.'
"'Not going?' He turned and looked at me, our eyes met, and then he understood.
"'Does not Margaret look lovely,' I asked in assumed carelessness, when the hall door had closed, and he came back to the room.
"'Not half so fair as my Esther,' he said, tenderly, 'though she is not wearing her regal dress. I thank God,' and here his voice grew low and solemn. 'I thank God, Crystal, that my darling has chosen the better part that shall not be taken away from her.'"
O calm grand eyes, extinguished in a storm, Blown out like lights o'er melancholy seas, Though shriek'd for by the shipwrecked. O my dark! My Cloud,--to go before me every day, While I go ever toward the wilderness, I would that you could see me bare to the soul.
"Things went on very happily for a long time after this. The church at Sandycliffe was finished; Raby gave up his curacy, and read himself in; and then came the day when Margaret and I heard him preach.