were mixing some strange potion, all the time mumbling and muttering their secret incantations. At one point, they all went off to the side and came back with an enormous jewel, which one of them held aloft in two hands hidden in a shot silk cope, and the little red light, which had shone bravely in the dark like a nightwatchman’s lantern and was now almost invisible in the light, followed them from the side to the high altar, and was lovingly instated in a special lampstand there. At another point, the purple coverings were taken off the statues and pictures, accompanied by little surges of prayer from the congregation.
All through the service, Amelia watched Mary Ann and followed her actions. When Mary Ann stood, Amelia stood, and when Mary Ann knelt, Amelia knelt too. But whereas Amelia was at all times aware of Mary Ann, Mary Ann seemed to remain completely oblivious to Amelia. She moved into a prayerful realm where Amelia couldn’t follow her, and she prayed with great passionand intensity, her lips moving, her head bowed, her beads slipping through her fingers. She looked as if she was praying for something very important and very urgent . Amelia wondered what it was that Mary Ann was so concerned about, and she bowed her head and tried to think prayerful thoughts too, but the atmosphere was so unlike what she was used to that no such thoughts presented themselves. So instead, she looked up again and all around at the people, most of them sunk in prayer like Mary Ann, all of them huddled in their pews and looking at the same time bulky in their outdoor clothes and rather small under the great arching roof of the church.
Afterwards, tripping home arm-in-arm with Mary Ann in the night air, Amelia asked what all that with the dark and the candles had been. Mary Ann said it symbolised the risen Christ, the Light of the World. In Amelia’s religion , people didn’t take ideas like that quite so literally, Amelia explained. Mary Ann gave her a thoughtful look, with maybe a little hint of pity in it, as if she was thinking that, good and all as the Quakers certainly were, they were perhaps spiritually deprived in some way that was not their fault. But of course she wouldn’t dream of saying so. Amelia returned the look, as if to say that powerful and dramatic as these ceremonies were, there was something a little risqué , a little pagan even, about them, and that really while part of her was thrilled by them, another part of her was rather repelled by the whole thingtoo. But of course, she wouldn’t dream of saying so either . So both girls thought their private thoughts, and both of them kept their counsel.
Easter Sunday
E aster Sunday was bright and warm, just as Easter should be, but rarely is in Dublin. The sun smiled on the streets and on the roofs and gardens of Casimir Road, on the stiff black railings and the little tiled paths. The daffodils in the front garden sparkled and the irises glowed like precious jewels as the Pims stepped out to walk to Meeting, Amelia pretty in her new straw bonnet, Edmund swinging from Mama’s hand. To their surprise, Mary Ann was coming along the footpath, with her arms outstretched to accommodate a spread-out copy of the Sunday Independent , which she was reading as she walked. She must have slipped out as soon as breakfast was over to get it. It wasn’t a paper the Pims took. Without looking up, she turned in at the Pims’ gate and started to stumble up the short front path to the house.
The family clustered at the front door smiled at each other at the sight of Mary Ann, half-hidden behind thenewspaper and walking blindly up the garden path. They stood in the little porch and waited for her to greet them. But Mary Ann went on reading, or at least staring at the printed words. Then she stopped, halfway up the path, and lowered the paper. She looked straight at the family, but she plainly didn’t see them. She shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe what she read
All through the service, Amelia watched Mary Ann and followed her actions. When Mary Ann stood, Amelia stood, and when Mary Ann knelt, Amelia knelt too. But whereas Amelia was at all times aware of Mary Ann, Mary Ann seemed to remain completely oblivious to Amelia. She moved into a prayerful realm where Amelia couldn’t follow her, and she prayed with great passionand intensity, her lips moving, her head bowed, her beads slipping through her fingers. She looked as if she was praying for something very important and very urgent . Amelia wondered what it was that Mary Ann was so concerned about, and she bowed her head and tried to think prayerful thoughts too, but the atmosphere was so unlike what she was used to that no such thoughts presented themselves. So instead, she looked up again and all around at the people, most of them sunk in prayer like Mary Ann, all of them huddled in their pews and looking at the same time bulky in their outdoor clothes and rather small under the great arching roof of the church.
Afterwards, tripping home arm-in-arm with Mary Ann in the night air, Amelia asked what all that with the dark and the candles had been. Mary Ann said it symbolised the risen Christ, the Light of the World. In Amelia’s religion , people didn’t take ideas like that quite so literally, Amelia explained. Mary Ann gave her a thoughtful look, with maybe a little hint of pity in it, as if she was thinking that, good and all as the Quakers certainly were, they were perhaps spiritually deprived in some way that was not their fault. But of course she wouldn’t dream of saying so. Amelia returned the look, as if to say that powerful and dramatic as these ceremonies were, there was something a little risqué , a little pagan even, about them, and that really while part of her was thrilled by them, another part of her was rather repelled by the whole thingtoo. But of course, she wouldn’t dream of saying so either . So both girls thought their private thoughts, and both of them kept their counsel.
Easter Sunday
E aster Sunday was bright and warm, just as Easter should be, but rarely is in Dublin. The sun smiled on the streets and on the roofs and gardens of Casimir Road, on the stiff black railings and the little tiled paths. The daffodils in the front garden sparkled and the irises glowed like precious jewels as the Pims stepped out to walk to Meeting, Amelia pretty in her new straw bonnet, Edmund swinging from Mama’s hand. To their surprise, Mary Ann was coming along the footpath, with her arms outstretched to accommodate a spread-out copy of the Sunday Independent , which she was reading as she walked. She must have slipped out as soon as breakfast was over to get it. It wasn’t a paper the Pims took. Without looking up, she turned in at the Pims’ gate and started to stumble up the short front path to the house.
The family clustered at the front door smiled at each other at the sight of Mary Ann, half-hidden behind thenewspaper and walking blindly up the garden path. They stood in the little porch and waited for her to greet them. But Mary Ann went on reading, or at least staring at the printed words. Then she stopped, halfway up the path, and lowered the paper. She looked straight at the family, but she plainly didn’t see them. She shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe what she read
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