noon
To satisfy Margaret , Morris lay down on the outside of the bed , warmly covered ; and the nurse once more , as in old days , felt her favourite child breathing quietly against her shoulder : once more she wiped away the standing tears , and prayed in her heart for the object of her care . If her prayer had had words , it would have been this : -- `` Thou hast been pleased to take to thyself the parents of these dear children ; and surely thou wilt be therefore pleased to be to them as father and mother , or to raise up or spare to them such as may be so . This is what I would ask for myself ; that I may be that comfort to them . Thou knowest that a strange trouble hath entered this house -- thou knowest , for thine eye seeth beneath the face into the heart , as the sun shines into a locked chamber at noon . Thou knowest what these young creatures know not . Make holy to them what thou knowest . Let thy silence rest upon that which must not be spoken .