The sensitive mind and conscience of a man, alive, through the long
discipline of religion, to many kinds of obligation, were, at this moment,
far from happy, even with this flaming June about him, and the beloved
brought nearer by every step. The thought of Marcia, the recollection of
her face, the expectation of her kiss, thrilled indeed in his veins. He was
not yet thirty, and the forces of his life were still rising. He had never
felt his manhood so vigorous, nor his hopes so high. Nevertheless he was
haunted--pursued--by the thought of those two miserable persons, over whom
he and his father held, it seemed, a power they had certainly never sought,
and hated to exercise. Yet how disobey the Church!--and how ignore the
plain words of her Lord--"_He that marrieth her that is put away
committeth adultery_'"?
"Marriage is for Christians indissoluble. It bears the sacramental stamp.
It is the image, the outward and visible sign of that most awful and
most sacred union between Christ and the soul. To break the church's law
concerning it, and to help others to break it, is--for Christians--to
_sin_. To acquiesce in it, to be a partner to the dissolution of
marriage for such reasons as Mrs.
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