Then he heard very clearly Marion’s sweet voice replying:
There was a faint shuffling, and the congregation rose to their feet. His eyes were still on Marion, and now his whole body quivered with the force of his newly-found love. She half turned and looked at him. For one instant their eyes met, and he saw in hers a flash of recognition, then a strange look of fear, and she turned away from him, flushed and trembling. He saw that she had read his heart and knew his love.
‘Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,’ read the Canon heavily.
Hyacinth’s heart swelled in him. His whole being seemed to throb with exultation, and he responded in a voice he could not recognise for his.
‘As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.’
Marion stood silent. Her head was bowed down, and her hands clasped tight together.
Of the remainder of the morning’s service Hyacinth could never afterwards remember anything. No doubt Canon Beecher read the Psalms and lessons and prayers; no doubt he preached. Probably, also, hymns were sung, and Marion played them, but he could not imagine how. It seemed quite impossible that she could have touched the keys with her fingers, or that she could have uttered any sound; yet no one had remarked the absence of hymns or even noticed any peculiarity in their performance. Not till after the service was over did he regain full consciousness of himself and his surroundings; then he became exceedingly alert. He watched the Canon disappear into the vestry, heard the congregation trample down the aisle, listened to Marion playing a final voluntary. It seemed to him as he sat there waiting for her to stop that she played much longer than usual. He could hear Mrs. Beecher and Mr. Quinn talking in the porch, and every moment he expected the Canon to appear. At last the music ceased, and the lid of the harmonium was closed and locked. He stepped forward and took Marion’s hands in his.
‘Marion,’ he said, ‘I love you. It was only this morning that I found it out, but I know--oh, I know--that I love you far, far more than I can tell you.’
The hand which lay in his grew cold, and the girl’s head was bowed so that he could not see her face. He felt her tremble.