she was speaking out of her own experience.
“I know it!” gulped Lutie. “I know he ain’t, but sometimes it all just comes over me. You see, I was right fond of him.”
Then she flashed a smile like a rainbow through her tears and brightened.
“But I don’t feel like that much now since I got Jesus in my heart like the song says. He really drives the sorrow away, and I’m mostly glad just to let Him have His way with me. If it wasn’t fer Him, I couldn’t stand it. He really does take the sorrow away, you know. I guess you likely know that yourself, Miss Sherrill, don’t you? But you see, I haven’t known Jesus so long, so I just have to talk about Him and sing about Him most all the time to keep myself reminded what a wonderful Savior I’ve got.”
Sherrill turned a searching, hungry look upon the little serving maid.
“Where did you get all that, Lutie?”
“Down at our Bible class, Miss Sherrill. I been going there about a year now. We got a wonderful teacher down there. We study the Bible, and it’s just wonderful what he makes us see in it. I just wish you’d come down sometime and visit, Miss Sherrill, and see what it’s like.”
“Maybe I will—sometime,” said Sherrill slowly, still studying the girl as if there were some strange mystery about her.
“It ain’t a very grand place,” said Lutie apologetically. “Maybe you might not like it. It’s just a plain board floor, and the walls are cracked and the seats are hard. It ain’t like your church. The windows are painted white because they look into an alley. Maybe you wouldn’t think it was good enough for you. But I’d like you to come once and see. The singing’s just heavenly, and the teacher’s grand! Everybody loves it so, they just can’t bear to go home.”
“Why, I wouldn’t mind things like that!” said Sherrill earnestly. “Indeed I wouldn’t. I’ll come sometime; I really will. I’d like to see what it’s like. When do you meet?”
“Monday evenings!” said Lutie with dancing eyes. “Oh, Miss Sherrill, if you’d come I’d be that proud!”
“Why, of course I’ll come!” said Sherrill heartily, relieved that she could do anything to make Lutie’s eyes shine like that, half curious, too, to see what it was that had made this simple girl happy in the face of such terrible troubles.
Sherrill carried the memory of the girl’s face with her as she went back to her room to finish her dressing. What a light had come into her eyes when she said what a wonderful Savior she had! Savior! Savior from what? Her sorrow? Her fear? Her sin? Lutie couldn’t be such a great sinner. It was probably just a lot of phrases she had picked up in some evangelistic meeting, poor thing, but if she thought she was comforted by it, there must be some good in it. Anyway, Sherrill decided she would go and find out. If there was any cure for sorrow, surely she herself needed it. And she drew a heavy sigh and went downstairs to face the morning after her own wedding day without a bridegroom.
She tried as she walked down the broad front stairs to forget how that other bride had looked, smiling and proud, holding her head high. And how Carter had looked, haughty, handsome, carrying it all off just as if it had been planned that way.
Carter! What had he thought? How had he taken it? Strange that he had not shown a sign, nor spoken a word to her. Did she fancy it, or had there been a furtive look of fear in his eyes? Anyhow, it was plain enough that he had avoided looking straight at her. Not once had he looked her in the eyes. Not once attempted to draw her aside and speak to her. She did not know from his looks whether he was very angry or only relieved to have had things work out this way.
Her heart was very heavy as she thought of this. It seemed to blot out the happy days of the past, to make Carter into an utter stranger. Yet of course it was better so. That was what she wanted; only somehow the awfulness of his attitude overcame her anew as she came down to the setting of the last act of that tragedy that had ended her high hopes. How was she going to bear the future?
And then, suddenly,