There had for a long time been a growing
division on the subject of the method of conducting church charities;
and it was expected that at this meeting the feeling would break out
openly. It would not be easy to say how it was known that anything of
the sort was to occur. There was no announcement of business which
differed materially from that of the ordinary sessions of the board.
The time did not seem propitious for a discussion, and there were
evident reasons why the followers of either candidate might be supposed
to wish to avoid arousing antagonism; yet it was certain that the
meeting would not close without some sort of a demonstration. There are
times when public feeling seems to demand and force declarations of
principle or of purpose which policy would gladly suppress; and such a
time had arrived in the Charity Board. Ashe was so strongly moved by
the possibilities of the situation that even the proximity of Mrs.
Fenton did not absorb his attention; although he was not for a moment
unconscious of being beside her.
The business routine was gone through, and after that half an hour
passed in the ordinary fashion.
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