“Dear child, last night, before Jiří came to me, my thoughts were heavy,—you see, I can’t sleep much,—I was thinking what little good there was in dragging along my old bones . . . why should I be living, since I am alone in this world, like a lonely pear-tree in a wide field? My husband is dead, I have no children, Jiří has long been as a stranger to me,—just then he entered. I was frightened, but he kissed my brow,—he had never done so before,—and he said: ‘You have a guest. I want to return to life a fallen girl,—but it can be done only with your help, dear aunt.’ You see, it is the will of the Lord. You are mine. When I saw you, wet through and through and trembling, I pitied you with my whole heart. You will stay here for my sake.”
Saying that, she kissed her brow and gently smoothed her hair, wiping her wet face with her handkerchief.
A new peace took possession of Lucy’s soul. She felt as though she had ascended
