hrases in the speeches of the men who were foolish enough to be his
opponents, but actually advising him, when he asked her, on many matters
about which the newspapers had been full. Then she had taken an active
part in more than one of those "movements" which became the topic of a
London season until compelled by an invisible but all-powerful authority
to move on and make way for the next new thing. She had moved with
every movement, and had proved her capacity to control herself when the
movement became uncontrollable. And then she had thought how worthy a
position in life would be that of the wife of the rector of a church
like St. Chad's.

That idea had remained with her, as had already been said, for some
months, until, to be exact in regard to the date, the other young women,
whom she had been watching with interest, had bought their brilliant
blouses with the newest and, consequently, most abnormal sleeves,
casting aside the sober-hued bodices which they had worn in hope.

How paltry were all these aspirations, these undertakings!

That was what was dinning in her ears all the time Ella had been talking
in the carriage.

But why, why, why should all her previous interests, including the
consideration of the questions of orthodoxy and the other thing, seem so
ridiculously small while Ella was speaking?

That was the question which puzzled her. Had Ella shown her a way to
something better, something higher, something better worthy of the
aspiration of a woman? She could not say that that had been the drift of
her large discourse. What she had said had actually been puzzling in its
vagueness, its daring images--all images are vague; its allegories--all
allegories are indefinite.

And yet--and yet--and yet----

With a motion of impatience Phyllis sprang to her feet. After a pause
she went to a little satin-wood cabinet which she had turned into a
bookshelf, and took out her Bible. She had never slept a night for years
without reading a chapter; and in order to avert the possibility of her
own feelings or fancies of the moment making any invidious distinction
between the various component parts of a book which is profitable
in every line, she had accustomed herself to read the chapters in
consecutive order from The Genesis to The Revelation. Sometimes, when
she found herself face to face of a night with a purely genealogical
chapter, Phyllis of Philistia had difficulty in crushing down her
unworthy desire to t