Mary, in truth, was not much in the way of
kneeling at such a time: she had to pray much too often to kneel
always, and God was too near her, wherever she happened to be,
for the fancy that she must seek him in any particular place; but
so it happened now. She rose, a little startled rather than
troubled, and followed her mistress into her room.
"I am sorry to have disturbed you, Mary," said Hesper, herself a
little annoyed, it is not quite easy to say why; "but people do
not generally say their prayers in the middle of the day."
"I say mine when I need to say them," answered Mary, a little
cross that Hesper should take any notice. She would rather the
thing had not occurred, and it was worse to have to talk about
it.
"For my part, I don't see any good in being righteous overmuch,"
said Hesper.
I wonder if there was another saying in the Bible she would have
been so ready to quote!
"I don't know what that means," returned Mary. "I believe it is
somewhere in the Bible, but I am sure Jesus never said it, for he
tells us to be righteous as our Father in heaven is righteous."
"But the thing is impossible," said Hesper. "How is one with such
claims on her as I have, to attend to these things? Society has
claims: no one denies that."
"And has God none?" asked Mary.
"Many people think now there is no God at all," returned Hesper,
with an almost petulant expression.
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