Well, well; God's ways were past finding out.

Why should He smother one under heaps of gold, while He gave thousands of poor creatures too little to satisfy their hunger! By the end of this torrent of words the two women had reached the house; and not till then was Paula clear in her own mind: Away, away with the passion which still strove for the mastery, whether it were in deed hatred or love! For she felt that she could not rightly enjoy her recovered freedom, her new and quiet happiness in the pretty home she owed to the physician's thoughtful care, till she had finally given up Orion and broken the last tie that had bound her to his house.
Could she desire anything more than what the present had to offer her?
She had found a true haven of rest where she lacked for nothing that she could desire for herself after listening to the admonitions of Philip pus.

Round her were good souls who felt with and for her, many occupations for which she was well-fitted, and which suited her tastes, with ample opportunities of bestowing and winning love.

Then, a few steps through pleasant shades took her to the convent where she could every day attend divine service among pious companions of her own creed, as she had done in her childhood.

She had longed intensely for such food for the spirit, and the abbess--who was the widow of a distinguished patrician of Constantinople and had known Paula's parents--could supply it in abundance.