Jenifer's Prayer, Part II [pp. 183-197]

Jennifer's Prayer.
So hopelessly fell on her heart every
word that the priest spoke, that, but
for that offering of all things to God,
poor Jenifer could scarcely have borne
her trial.
"And if this Henry Evelyn should
turn out to be Horace Erskine, why,
he will marry some unhappy woman
some time, of course, and the law of
the land will give him one wife, and
by the law of God another woman
will claim him. Oh, if people would
but obey holy church, and not try to
live under laws of theirown inventing."
"My life, and all that is in it!" Again,
only that could have made Jenifer bear
the trials that were presented to her.
"And if gossip spoke truth he was
very near marrying Lady Greystock
once-Mr. Brewer, himself, thought
it was going to be." One more great
act of submission-" Mfy life, and all
that is in it t"-came forth from Jenifer's heart. She loved Mr. Brewer,
with a faithful sort of worship-if such
a trial as that had come on him through
her trouble!-that was over; that had
been turned aside; but the thought
gave rise to a question, even as she
thanked God for the averted woe.
"Is it Eleanor's duty to find out if
Henry Evelyn and Horace Erskine
are one?" "Yes," said the priest.
"Yes; it is. It is everybody's duty
to prevent mischief. It is her duty, as
far as lies in her power, to prevent sin."
" And if it proves true-that which
Corny Nug,uent says, what then?"
"Be content for the present. It is
a very difficult case to act in."
Poor Jenifer felt the priest to be sadly wanting in sympathy-she turned
again to him who knows all and feels
all, and she offered up the disappointment that would grow up in her heart
-" My life, and all that is in it!"
She turned to go; and then Father
Daniels spoke so kindly, so solemnly,
with such a depth of sympathy in the
tone of his voice-" God bless you,
my child;" and the sign of the cross
seemed to bless her sensibly. " Thank
you, father?' And, without lifting
her eyes, she left the room and the
house; and still saying that prayer
that had grown to be her strength and
her help, she went up the steep rugged
path to the spreading down; and then
she turned round and looked on the
great sea heaving lazily under the
sunset rays, that painted it in the far
distance with gold and red, and a silvery light, till it touched the ruby-colored sky, and received each separate
ray of glory on its breast just where
earth and heaven seemed to meetjust where you could fancy another
world looking into the depths of the
great sea that flowed up into its gates.
It seemed to do Jenifer good. The
whole scene was so glorious, and the
glory was so far-spreading-all the
world seemed to rest around her bathed
in warm light and basking in the smile
of heaven. She stood still and said
again, in a sweet soft voice: " My life,
and all that is in it.!"
Her great dread that day when \ Mr.
Brewer had told her to put him and
his into her prayer, had been lest the
punishment of sin should come on the
man who had deserted her dear girl,
and lest that sin's effect in a heartbroken disease should fall on the girl
herself.
When Mr. Brewer said, "Put me
and mine into that prayer, Jenifer,"
the thought had risen that she would
tell him of Eleanor. She had told
him, and he had helped helr. But she
had never thought that, by acting on
the impulse, the two women whose
hearts Horace Erskine had crushed,
as a wilful child breaks his playthings
when he has got tired or out of temper, had been brought together under
one roof, and made to love each other.
Yet so it had been. The woman who
could do nothing but pray hadprayed;
and a thing had been done which no
human contrivance could have effected.
And as Jonifer stood gazing on the
heavens that grew brighter and brighter, and on the water that reflected
every glory, and seemed to bask with
a living motion in the great magnificence that was poured upon it, she recollected how great a pain had been
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