"And so we should rejoice at His coming. But would it please Him, do
you think, to see us showing our joy by indulging in those very sins
from which He came to free us?"

Maud looked with puzzled countenance.

"Is it a sin to like cake and sweet things, aunt?"

The gravity of the question brought a smile to Miss Bygrave's close,
strong lips.

"Listen, Maud," she said, "and I will tell you what I mean. For you
to like such things is no sin, as long as you are still too young to
have it explained to you why you should overcome that liking. As I
said, you are now old enough to begin to think of more than a
child's foolishness, to ask yourself what is the meaning of the life
which has been given you, what duties you must set before yourself
as you grow up to be a woman. When once these duties have become
clear to you, when you understand what the end of life is, and how
you should seek to gain it, then many things become sinful which
were not so before, and many duties must be performed which
previously you were not ready for."

Miss Bygrave spoke with effort, as if she found it difficult to
express herself in sufficiently simple phraseology. Speaking, she
did not look at the child; and, when the pause came, her eyes were
still fixed absently on the picture above the mantelpiece.

"Keep in mind what I shall tell you," she proceeded with growing
solemnity, "and some day you will better understand its meaning than