Speak to my warring passions, "Peace!"
Say to my trembling heart, "Be still!"
Thy power my strength and fortress is,
For all things serve thy sovereign will.
She laid by the brush and took up the duster; and if you had ever lived
in Mrs. Poyser's household, you would know how the duster behaved in
Dinah's hand--how it went into every small corner, and on every ledge
in and out of sight--how it went again and again round every bar of the
chairs, and every leg, and under and over everything that lay on the
table, till it came to Adam's papers and rulers and the open desk near
them. Dinah dusted up to the very edge of these and then hesitated,
looking at them with a longing but timid eye. It was painful to see
how much dust there was among them. As she was looking in this way, she
heard Seth's step just outside the open door, towards which her back
was turned, and said, raising her clear treble, "Seth, is your brother
wrathful when his papers are stirred?"
"Yes, very, when they are not put back in the right places," said a deep
strong voice, not Seth's.
It was as if Dinah had put her hands unawares on a vibrating chord.
She was shaken with an intense thrill, and for the instant felt nothing
else; then she knew her cheeks were glowing, and dared not look round,
but stood still, distressed because she could not say good-morning in a
friendly way.
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