ify the hardness of heart of Grenoble. With Grenoble obdurate, what
would become of the larger ambitions of Hugh Chiltern?

Mrs. Simpson was indeed a redoubtable lady, whose virtue shone with a
particular high brightness on the Sabbath. Her lamp was brimming with
oil against the judgment day, and she was as one divinely appointed to
be the chastener of the unrighteous. So, at least, Honora beheld her.
Her attire was rich but not gaudy, and had the air of proclaiming the
prosperity of Israel Simpson alone as its unimpeachable source: her nose
was long, her lip slightly marked by a masculine and masterful emblem,
and her eyes protruded in such a manner as to give the impression of
watchfulness on all sides.

It was this watchfulness that our heroine grew to regard as a salient
characteristic. It never slept--even during Mr. Stopford's sermons. She
was aware of it when she entered the church, and she was sure that
it escorted her as far as the carriage on her departure. It seemed to
oppress the congregation. And Honora had an idea that if it could have
been withdrawn, her cruel proscription would have ended. For at times
she thought that she read in the eyes of some of those who made way for
her, friendliness and even compassion.

It was but natural, perhaps, in the situation in which our heroine found
herself, that she should have lost her sense of proportion to the extent
of regarding this lady in the light of a remorseless dragon barring her
only path to peace. And those who might have helped her--if any there
were--feared the dragon as much as she. Mrs. Simpson undoubtedly would
not have relished this characterization, and she is not to have the
opportunity of presenting her side of the case. We are looking at it
from Honora's view, and Honora beheld chimeras. The woman changed, for
Honora, the very aspect of the house of God; it was she who appeared to
preside there, or rather to rule by terror. And Honora, as she glanced
at her during the lessons, often wondered if she realized the appalling
extent of her cruelty. Was this woman, who begged so audibly to be
delivered from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy, in reality a Christian?
Honora hated her, and yet she prayed that God would soften her heart.
Was there no way in which she could be propitiated, appeased? For
the sake of the thing desired, and which it was given this woman to
withhold, she was willing to humble herself in the dust.

Honora laid the hospital circ