A figure came out in the rusty black cassock with the cord around the waist, and the little round cap, where a few straggling locks, much threaded with white, fell below in a half-curling fashion. He glanced her way, then came over to her and she rose with a reverent obeisance.
"It is Ma'm'selle de Longueville. You were little Renée. I remember when you used to come and pray for your uncle that he might be returned in safety. Is there nothing left to pray for?"
The tone was wonderfully sweet, and the eyes gave her such a kindly, tender glance that her heart melted within her.
"I went in the church," she began in a low tone. "I was troubled about something. I could not find the right prayer. There may be a need before the prayer," and her voice trembled like a quivering note of music.
"Then let us go in and find it, daughter," and he took her hand in his and gently led her back. She knelt in silence. The kindly hands were folded on her head in blessing.
What was it she wanted to say? "If one so coveted a love that it brought unhappiness if it was shared with any one else; if one had been first for years, and found another in the place, and then--" The sorrowful voice broke. It was flooded with tears and soft sobs.
"Is it a lover that has cast longing eyes on another?"
"Oh, no, no!" And then the poor little story came out in an incoherent fashion. It was selfish, it was covetous, it was unjust. She saw that, now that she put it in words, and it sent a pang of shame and anguish through her whole being. Was this the return for all the affection he had given?
"Child," said the low, sweet voice, "I think he will not love thee less because another comes into his heart. It is a good, generous heart. I know it well. And thou must cast out the selfish fear and give love for love. God shares His with all His creatures, and asks first a devoted heart, then the wide love for one's neighbor. No grudging heart ever yet had peace. And the more happiness one scattereth the more returneth to thee. The more Christlike thy heart becomes, the greater will be thy desire to do for others, and in this will come the recompense. Trust thy God and then thy trust will grow in all His creatures. Narrow thy life, and when the one light fails all will be darkness. Thou hast gone but a little way forward and there are many lessons to learn before thou wilt reach the end, but the divinest of all is unselfish love."