And now days came and went, went and came, as Time, the inexorable,
ever does, regardless of human joys or sorrows. Amelie, weary of
the world, was only desirous of passing away from it to that sphere
where time is not, and where our affections and thoughts alone
measure the periods of eternity. For time, there, is but the shadow
that accompanies the joys of angels, or the woes of sinners,--not
the reality. It is time here, eternity there!
The two postulantes seemed impressed with the spirit that, to their
fancies, lingered in the cell of their kinswoman, Mere Madelaine.
They bent their gentle necks to the heaviest yoke of spiritual
service which their Superior would consent to lay upon them.
Amelie's inflexible will made her merciless towards herself. She
took pleasure in the hardest of self-imposed penances, as if the
racking of her soul by incessant prayers, and wasting of her body by
vigils and cruel fastings, were a vicarious punishment, borne for
the sake of her hapless brother.
She could not forget Pierre, nor did she ever try to forget him.
Pages:
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104