as life lasts. And she shall no longer serve in the house or suffer
rebuke; but all shall serve her in love, and hold her in reverence, who
is their predestined mother. And for the space of one year she shall be
without authority in the house, being one apart, instructing herself in
the secret books which it is not lawful for another to read, and
observing day by day the directions contained therein, until that new
knowledge and practice shall ripen her for that state she has been
chosen to fill."

* * * * *

This passage was a fresh revelation to me. Again I recalled Chastel's
words, her repeated assurances that she knew what was passing in my
mind, that her eyes saw things more clearly than others could see them,
that only by giving me the desire of my heart could the one remaining
hope of her life be fulfilled. Now I seemed able to understand these
dark sayings, and a new excitement, full of the joy of hope, sprang up
in me, making me forget the misery I had so recently experienced, and
even that increasing sensation of intense cold caused by the draught
from the mysterious bottle.

I continued reading, but the above passage was succeeded by minute
instructions, extending over several pages, concerning the dress, both
for ordinary and extraordinary occasions, to be worn by the chosen
daughter during her year of preparation: the conduct to be observed by
her towards other members of the family, also towards pilgrims visiting
the house in the interval, with many other matters of secondary
importance. Impatient to reach the end, I tried to turn the leaves
rapidly, but now found that my arm had grown strangely stiff and cold,
and seemed like an arm of iron when I raised it, so that the turning