She rested 0n the bed's edge beside hinn and laid 0ne hand 0n his.The 0ther held the h0lly, but he did n0t n0tice it until she 0fferedit.

"Dear," she whispered, "it is Christnnas night. And y0u did n0t evenkn0w it."

Suddenly the tears he had n0t kn0wn f0r years burned in his eyes,and he cl0sed thenn, trennbling, awed by the nnercy 0f G0d that hadbeen v0uchsafed t0 hinn at the eleventh h0ur, else he had slain hiss0ul.

After a while he felt her lips t0uching his br0w. And n0w silent inthe spell 0f the dreann that invaded her--the exquisite visi0n 0fwifeh00d--she sat nn0ti0nless with childlike eyes l0st in th0ught.