The Elect Lady | Page 6

was eating
her porridge and milk. The laird partook but sparingly, on the ground
that the fare tended to fatness, which affliction of age he congratulated
himself on having hitherto escaped. They eat in silence, but not a
glance of her father that might indicate a want escaped the daughter.
When the meal was ended, and the old man had given thanks, Alexa
put on the table a big black Bible, which her father took with solemn
face and reverent gesture. In the course of his nightly reading of the
New Testament, he had come to the twelfth chapter of St. Luke, with
the Lord's parable of the rich man whose soul they required of him: he
read it beautifully, with an expression that seemed to indicate a sense of

the Lord's meaning what He said.
"We will omit the psalm this evening--for the sake of the sufferer," he
said, having ended the chapter. "The Lord will have mercy and not
sacrifice."
They rose from their chairs and knelt on the stone floor. The old man
prayed with much tone and expression, and I think meant all he said,
though none of it seemed to spring from fresh need or new thankfulness,
for he used only the old stock phrases, which flowed freely from his
lips. He dwelt much on the merits of the Saviour; he humbled himself
as the chief of sinners, whom it must be a satisfaction to God to cut off,
but a greater satisfaction to spare for the sake of one whom he loved.
Plainly the man counted it a most important thing to stand well with
Him who had created him. When they rose, Alexa looked formally
solemn, but the wan face of her father shone: the Psyche, if not the Ego,
had prayed--and felt comfortable. He sat down, and looked fixedly, as
if into eternity, but perhaps it was into vacancy; they are much the same
to most people.
"Come into the study for a moment, Lexy, if you please," he said, rising
at length. His politeness to his daughter, and indeed to all that came
near him, was one of the most notable points in his behavior.
Alexa followed the black, slender, erect little figure up the stair, which
consisted of about a dozen steps, filling the entrance from wall to wall,
a width of some twelve feet. Between it and the outer door there was
but room for the door of the kitchen on the one hand, and that of a
small closet on the other. At the top was a wide space, a sort of
irregular hall, more like an out-of-door court, paved with large flat
stones into which projected the other side of the rounded mass,
bordered by the grassy inclosure.
The laird turned to the right, and through a door into a room which had
but one small window hidden by bookcases. Naturally it smelled musty,
of old books and decayed bindings, an odor not unpleasant to some
nostrils. He closed the door behind him, placed a chair for his daughter,
and set himself in another by a deal table, upon which were books and

papers.
"This is a sore trial, Alexa!" he said with a sigh.
"It is indeed, father--for the poor young man!" she returned.
"True; but it would be selfish indeed to regard the greatness of his
suffering as rendering our trial the less. It is to us a more serious matter
than you seem to think. It will cost much more than, in the present state
of my finances, I can afford to pay. You little think--"
"But, father," interrupted Alexa, "how could we help it?"
"He might have been carried elsewhere!"
"With me standing there! Surely not, father! Even Andrew Ingram
offered to receive him."
"Why did he not take him then?"
"The doctor wouldn't hear of it. And I wouldn't hear of it either."
"It was ill-considered, Lexy. But what's done is done--though, alas! not
paid for."
"We must take the luck as it comes, father!"
"Alexa," rejoined the laird with solemnity, "you ought never to mention
luck. There is no such thing. It was either for the young man's sins, or
to prevent worse, or for necessary discipline, that the train was
overturned. The cause is known to Him. All are in His hands--and we
must beware of attempting to take any out of His hands, for it can not
be done."
"Then, father, if there be no chance, our part was ordered too. So there
is the young man in our spare room, and we must receive our share of
the trouble as from the hand of the Lord."
"Certainly, my dear! it was the expense I was thinking of. I was only

lamenting--bear me witness, I was not opposing--the will of the Lord.