Going first down the stair, and then up, she soon satisfied
herself that they came from above, and thereupon ventured a
little farther up the stair.
She had already been to see the dressmaker, whom she had come to
know through the making of Hesper's twilight robe of cloud, had
found her far from well, and had done what she could for her. But
she was in no want, and of more than ordinary independence--a
Yorkshire woman, about forty years of age, delicate, but of great
patience and courage; a plain, fair, freckled woman, with a
belief in religion rather than in God. Very strict, therefore, in
her observances, she thought a great deal more of the Sabbath
than of man, a great deal more of the Bible than of the truth,
and ten times more of her creed than of the will of God; and, had
she heard any one utter such words as I have just written, would
have said he was an atheist. She was a worthy creature,
notwithstanding, only very unpleasant if one happened to step on
the toes of a pet ignorance. Mary soon discovered that there was
no profit in talking with her on the subjects she loved most:
plainly she knew little about them, except at second hand--that
is, through the forms of other minds than her own. Such people
seem intended for the special furtherance of the saints in
patience; being utterly unassailable by reason, they are
especially trying to those who desire to stand on brotherly terms
with all men, and so are the more sensitive to the rudeness that
always goes with moral stupidity; intellectual stupidity may
coexist with the loveliness of an angel.
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