Were it not for this child, indeed, they would have ended now, Christian though she was, since she was crushed with bitter sorrow and her heart seemed void of hope or joy.

All her days had been hard--she who was born to great place among her own wild people far away, and snatched thence to be a slave, set apart by her race and blood from those into whose city she was sold; she who would have naught to do with base men nor become the plaything of those of higher birth; she who had turned Christian and drunk deep of the tribulations of the faith; she who had centred all her eager heart upon two beloved women, and lost them both.

All her days had been hard, and here and now, by the side of her dead mistress, she would have ended them.

But the child remained, and while it lived, she would live.

If it died, then perhaps she would die also.
Meanwhile Nehushta had no time for grief, since the babe must be fed, and within twelve hours.