She arrived only just in time. There, standing in a row before
four chairs, their faces red and shining, their hands folded in
front of them, were the domestics; there, with a little high desk in
front of her, on the other side of the long dining-room table was
Aunt Anne; here, near the door, were two chairs obviously intended
for Aunt Elizabeth and Maggie.
Maggie in her haste pushed the door, and it banged loudly behind
her; in the silent room the noise echoed through the house. It was
followed by a piercing scream from Edward, whom, Maggie concluded,
it had awakened. All this confused her very much and gave her
anything but a religious state of mind.
What followed resembled very much the ceremonies with which her
father had been accustomed to begin the day, except that her father,
with one eye on the bacon, had gabbled at frantic pace through the
prayers and Aunt Anne read them very slowly and with great beauty.
She read from the Gospel of St. John: "These things I command you,
that ye love one another . . ."; but the clear, sweet tones of her
voice gave no conviction of a love for mankind.
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