etc., etc.

It was a relief when the curtain rose once more. The music and the
action of the piece engrossed the attention of Violet; to Bernard they
were God-sent helps. His mind could range back over the past without
restraint, while outwardly he appeared absorbed in the play.

What torrents of self-reproach swept over him as he retraced the
wanderings of his misspent years--misspent as regarded the service of
his Creator, however prosperous in the eyes of the world! The past
came back like a dream. His innocent childhood, spent under the
vigilant care of a saintly mother; his boyhood, with its keener
joys--all tempered by religion; his school-days, his college
career--both dominated by faith; in minute detail the pictures passed
before his mental vision as he sat there, silent and solitary--heedless
of the throng of pleasure-seekers all around him. The sorrow with
which such recollections filled his heart was caused by the contrast
which after years presented. He could recall his first falling-away
from grace, when the successful attainment of a coveted appointment had
brought with it the necessity of concealing his Catholic upbringing and
convictions. How rapidly had he descended after that turning point had
been passed! Conscience had been stifled until its voice no longer
troubled him. Ambition became his goal, worldly success his God. Far
away in Ireland his mother had died blessing him for his generous
provision for her, ignorant of her darling's downfall. None were now
left for whose opinion he had cared one straw, even should they learn
of his apostasy.

Shrouded as they were in the gloom of the auditorium, his face, kept
resolutely toward the stage, could not be seen by his companion, much