"
I murmured that I had known Mrs. Mainwaring for some years.
"You are doubtless acquainted with her unhappy history."
"I have heard her speak of it," said I.
"You must then share her surprise in seeing me here to-day. I
should like to assure you, as representing her friends and
society and that sort of thing, as I have assured her, that I
have not taken this step without earnest prayer and seeking the
counsel of Almighty God."
I am by no means a bigoted pietist, but to hear a person talk
lightly about seeking the counsel of Almighty God jars upon my
sense of taste. I stiffened at the sanctimonious tone in which
the words were uttered.
"You have without doubt very good reasons for coming back into
the circle of her life," said I.
"The best of all reasons," he replied, caressing a brown whisker,
"namely, that I am a Christian."
I liked him less and less.
"Is that the reason, may I ask, why you remained away from her
all these years?"
"I deserve the scoff," said he: "Those were days of sin.
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