It was a mistake and he ought not to have retreated so far
upon repulse. A word will sometimes, when least expected, unlock a
heart, a soul is gained for ever, and at once there is much more than
a recompense for the indifference of years.
After the death of his wife, Baruch's affection spent itself upon his
son Benjamin, whom he had apprenticed to a firm of optical instrument
makers in York. The boy was not very much like his father. He was
indifferent to that religion by which his father lived, but he
inherited an aptitude for mathematics, which was very necessary in
his trade. Benjamin also possessed his father's rectitude, trusted
him, and looked to him for advice to such a degree that even Baruch,
at last, thought it would be better to send him away from home in
order that he might become a little more self-reliant and
independent. It was the sorest of trials to part with him, and, for
some time after he left, Baruch's loneliness was intolerable. It
was, however, relieved by a visit to York perhaps once in four or
five months, for whenever business could be alleged as an excuse for
going north, he managed, as he said, 'to take York on his way.'
The day after he met Clara he started for Birmingham, and although
York was certainly not 'on his way,' he pushed forward to the city
and reached it on a Saturday evening. He was to spend Sunday there,
and on Sunday morning he proposed that they should hear the cathedral
service, and go for a walk in the afternoon.
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