Yellow stars of biting stone-crop covered the walls of the ruin; the fruit
of the blackthorn was growing purple, of the hawthorn, red; the lesser
dodder crept, like pink lacework, over furze and heather; bright-eyed
euphrasy and sweet wild thyme were murmured over by many bees; at the
altar's foot grew brake fern and towering foxgloves; while upon the sacred
stone itself brambles laid their fruit, a few ripe blackberries shining
from clusters of red and green. Seeding grasses and docks likewise
nourished within the little chapel, and ragged robins and dandelions
brought the best beauty they had. Among which matters, hid in loneliness,
to the sound of that hymn of life which rises in a whisper from all earth
at summer noon, Joan prayed for her baby that it might not be born in vain.
CHAPTER TWO
HOME
Among the varied ambitions now manifested by Joan was one already hinted
at--one which increased to the displacement of smaller interests: she much
desired to see again her home, if but for the space of an hour. The days
and weeks of an unusually smiling summer brought autumn, and with it the
cutting of golden grain; but the bustle and custom of harvest failed to
draw Joan among her kind. Human life faded somewhat, even to the verge of
unreality with her. Silence fell upon her, and a gravity of demeanor which
was new to the beholders. Uncle Chirgwin and Mary were alike puzzled at
this sign, and, misunderstanding the nature of the change, feared that the
girl's spiritual development must be meeting unseen opposition.
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