?

She was dressed to go to church, and after expressing her delight at the
honor done to herself and her whole household by the prelate's visit,
she invited Orion to accompany her. Though he had proposed devoting the
next few hours to a different purpose, the dutiful son at once acceded
to this wish; he helped her into her chariot, bid the driver go slowly,
and seated himself by her side.

As they drove along he asked her what she had told the patriarch, and
her replies might have reassured him but that she filled him with grave
anxiety on fresh grounds. Her mind seemed to have suffered under the
stress of grief. It was usually so clear, so judicious, so reasonable;
and now all she said was incoherent and not more than half intelligible.
Still, one thing he distinctly understood: that she had not confided to
the patriarch the fact of his father's curse. The prelate must certainly
have censured the conduct of the deceased to her also and that had
sealed her lips. She complained to her son that Benjamin had never
understood her lost husband, and that she had felt compelled to repress
her desire to disclose everything to him. Nowhere but in church, in the
very presence of the Redeemer, could she bring herself to allow him to
read her heart as it were an open book. A voice had warned her that in
the house of God alone, could she find salvation for herself and her
son; that voice she heard day and night, and much as it pained her to
grieve him he must hear it now--: That voice never ceased to enjoin her
to tear asunder his connection with the Melchite maiden. Last evening
it had seemed to her that it was her eldest son, who had died for the
Jacobite faith, that was speaking to her. The voice had sounded like
his, and it had warned her that the ancient house of Menas must perish,
if a Melchite should taint the pure blood of their race. And Benjamin
had confirmed her fears; he had come back to her on purpose to beseech
her to oppose Orion's sinful affection for Thomas' daughter with the
utmost maternal authority, and, as the patriarch expressed the same
desire as the voice, it must be from God and she must obey it.

Her old grudge against Paula had revived, and her very tones betrayed
that it grew stronger with every word she spoke which had any reference
to the girl.

At this Orion begged her to be calm, reminding her of the promise she
had made him by his father's deathbed; and just as his mother was about
to reply in a