rs! And so--if you laugh, you
kill me, Raphael--and so Miriam, the daughter of Jonathan--Miriam, of
the house of David--Miriam, the descendant of Ruth and Rachab, of Rachel
and Sara, became a Christian nun, and shut herself up to see visions,
and dream dreams, and fattened her own mad self-conceit upon the impious
fancy that she was the spouse of the Nazarene, Joshua Bar-Joseph, whom
she called Jehovah Ishi--Silence! If you stop me a moment, it may be
too late. I hear them calling me already; and I made them promise not to
take me before I had told all to my son--the son of my shame!'

'Who calls you?' asked Raphael; but after one strong shudder she ran on,
unheeding--

'But they lied, lied, lied! I found them out that day.... Do not look
up at me, and I will tell you all. There was a riot--a fight between
the Christian devils and the Heathen devils--and the convent was sacked,
Raphael, my son!--Sacked!.... Then I found out their blasphemy.... Oh
God! I shrieked to Him, Raphael! I called on Him to rend His heavens and
come down--to pour out His thunderbolts upon them--to cleave the earth
and devour them--to save the wretched helpless girl who adored Him,
who had given up father, mother, kinsfolk, wealth, the light of heaven,
womanhood itself, for Him--who worshipped, meditated over Him, dreamed
of Him night and day .... And, Raphael, He did not hear me.... He did
not hear me! .... did not hear the!.... And then I knew it all for a
lie! a lie!'

'And you knew it for what it is!' cried Raphael through his sobs, as he
thought of Victoria, and felt every vein burning with righteous wrath.

--'There was no mistaking that test, was there?.... For nine months I
was mad. And then your voice, my baby, my joy, my pride that brought me
to myself once more! And I shook off the dust of my feet against those
Galilean priests, and went back to my own nation, where God had set me
from the beginning. I made them--the Rabbis, my father, my kin--I made
them all receive me. They could not stand before my eye. I can stake
people do what I will, Raphael! I could--I could make you emperor now,
if I had but time left! I went back. I palmed you off on Ezra as his
son, I and his wife, and made him believe that you had been born to him
while he was in Byzantium .... And then--to live for you! And I did live
for you. For you I travelled from India to Britain, seeking wealth. For
you I toiled, hoarded, lied, intrigued, won money by every means,