Violet Jacob > Irresolute Catherine

130 IRRESOLUTE CATHERINE
worshippers, his eyes fixed on his book.
She could hear his strong, melodious voice
separately, fervent, and steady; and she
listened to it as a person by a river’s side
will listen to the tune of one particular eddy
in the full underlying rush of water.
It was easy to see, here in the quietness
of the chapel, how much more of youth
there was in the man than in the impression
he gave to others. He was little over
thirty and the lines on his face were not
lines of care, but the marks traced by ex¬
posure and hard exercise. His eyes were
the narrowed eyes of men who look over
long distances in rigorous weathers, and if
his thin beard hid jaw and chin, the outline
of his chest and shoulders was sharp and
young. Now and again he would look up,
throwing back his head as he sent a note
from his expanded lungs into the swell of
the hymn. The words that floated out
round her had neither interest nor meaning
for Susannah; for her there was only a