at present he actually was. They were at the beginning of
the new religion, not in its maturity; there must be sourness in the
young fruit. ... Consider, too, the provocation! Remember the appalling
crime that these Catholics had contemplated; they had set themselves to
strike the new Faith in its very heart....

"My darling," he said, "men are not changed in an instant. What if those
Christians had succeeded!... I condemn it all as strongly as you. I saw
a couple of newspapers this afternoon that are as wicked as anything
that the Christians have ever done. They exulted in all these crimes. It
will throw the movement back ten years.... Do you think that there are
not thousands like yourself who hate and detest this violence?... But
what does faith mean, except that we know that mercy will prevail?
Faith, patience and hope--these are our weapons."

He spoke with passionate conviction, his eyes fixed on hers, in a fierce
endeavour to give her his own confidence, and to reassure the remnants
of his own doubtfulness. It was true that he too hated what she hated,
yet he saw things that she did not.... Well, well, he told himself, he
must remember that she was a woman.

The look of frantic horror passed slowly out of her eyes, giving way to
acute misery as he talked, and as his personality once more began to
dominate her own. But it was not yet over.

"But the volors," she cried, "the volors! That is deliberate; that is
not the work of the mob."

"My darling, it is no more deliberate than the other. We are all human,
we are all immature. Yes, the Council permitted it, ... permitted it,
remember. The German Government, too, had to yield. We must tame nature
slowly, we must not break it."

He talked again for a few minutes, repeating his arguments, soothing,
reassuring, encouraging; and he saw that he was beginning to prevail.
But she returned to one of his words.

"Permitted it! And you permitted it."

"Dear; I said nothing, either for it or against. I tell you that if we
had forbidden it there would have been yet more murder, and the people
would have lost their rulers. We were passive, since we could do
nothing."

"Ah! but it would have been better to die.... Oh, Oliver, let me die at
least! I cannot bear it."

By her hands which he still held he drew her nearer yet to himself.

"Sweetheart," he said gravely, "cannot you trust me a little? If I could
tell you all that passed to-day, you would understand. But t