jured passionately, and the
burghers, with their vrouws in their Sunday best, were smitten with
remorse of past scandal-mongering, and vowed that in the future they
would live in perfect accord and good-will.

Jongejuffrouw Beresteyn, too, thought of all her friends and
acquaintances with the kindliest of feelings, and she had not a harsh
thought for anyone in her heart ... not for anyone, at any rate, who was
good and deserving.... As for that knavish malapert with the merry,
twinkling eyes and the mocking smile, surely God would not desire her to
be in charity with him; a more ungrateful, more impertinent wretch, she
had never met, and it was quite consoling to think of all that Mynheer
Beresteyn's influence could have done for those three ragamuffins, and
how in the near future they must all suffer abominable discomfort,
mayhap with shortage of food and drink, or absence of shelter, when no
doubt one of them at least would remember with contrition the
magnanimous offer of help made to him by gracious lips, and which he had
so insolently refused.

So absorbed was Jongejuffrouw Beresteyn in these thoughts that she never
even noticed that the watch-night service was over, and the minister
already filing out with the clerk. The general exodus around her
recalled her to herself and also to a sense of contrition for the absent
way in which she had assisted at this solemn service.

She whispered to Maria to wait for her outside the church with the men.

"I must yet pray for a little while alone," she said. "I will join you
at the north door in a quarter of an hour."

And she fell on her knees, and was soon absorbed in prayer.

Maria found the two serving men in the crowd, and transmitted to them
her mistress's orders. The cathedral had been very full for the service,
and the worshippers took a long time filing out; they lingered about in
the aisles, exchanging bits of city gossip and wishing one another a
happy New Year.

The verger had much ado to drive the goodly people out of the edifice,
no sooner had he persuaded one group of chatterers to continue their
conversation on the Grootemarkt outside, than another batch seemed to
loom out of the shadows, equally determined to conclude its gossip here
in the warmth, before sallying forth once more into the foggy midnight
air.

"I must close the cathedral for the night," the worthy man repeated
piteously, "do you think that I don't want to get home and eat my
watch-ni