You might not get the priesthood to admit it, but religion is a luxury
which few of the hard-workers in this world can afford. But she still
maintained that sense of conventional awe which strict religious
training drives deep into a receptive mind.

"Do you think it amusing to speak like that?" she asked.

"Like what?"

"What you said--the sentence that you quoted?"

"Of such are the kingdom of heaven?"

"Yes."

"Well--I don't think it's the best joke I've ever made--but it was
meant to be amusing."

At this, she laughed--laughed in spite of herself. His absolute
inconsequence was in itself humorous. She snatched a swift glance
at him under cover of a pretence to look behind her. As her eyes
returned, she was conscious that she was interested.

He was clean shaven. The lines were hard about his mouth, cutting
character--the chin was strong, the jaw well-moulded. It was not a
type of face that belonged to the class in which she moved. These
men were of the unreliable type--some definite weakness somewhere
in every face. So far as she could see in that one sudden glance,
this man had none. His face dominated, his voice too. The hardness
of his features carried with it a sense of cruelty; but a woman is