"It might be, to those that see nothing in it," he said. "You know it's the symbol of Christ, of His innocence and sacrifice."
"Whatever it means, it's a lamb," she said. "And I like lambs too much to treat them as if they had to mean something. As for the Christmas-tree flag—no"
And again she poufed with mockery.
"It's because you don't know anything," he said violently, harshly. "Laugh at what you know, not at what you don't know."
"What don't I know?"
"What things mean."
"And what does it mean?"
He was reluctant to answer her. He found it difficult.
"What does it mean?" she insisted.
"It means the triumph of the Resurrection."
She hesitated, baffled, a fear came upon her. What were these things? Something dark and powerful seemed to extend before her. Was it wonderful after all?
But no—she refused it.
"Whatever it may pretend to mean, what it is is a silly absurd toy-lamb with a Christmas-tree flag ledged on its paw—and if it wants to mean anything else, it must look different from that."
He was in a state of violent irritation against her. Partly he was ashamed of his love for these things; he hid his passion for them. He was ashamed of the ecstasy into which he could throw himself with these symbols. And for a few moments he hated the lamb and the mystic pictures of the Eucharist, with a violent, ashy hatred. His fire was put out, she had thrown cold water on it. The whole thing was distasteful to him, his mouth was full of ashes. He went out cold with corpse-like anger, leaving her alone. He hated her. He walked through the white snow, under a sky of lead.
And she wept again, in bitter recurrence of the previous gloom. But her heart was easy—oh, much more easy.
She was quite willing to make it up with him when he came home again. He was black and surly, but abated. She had broken a little of something in him. And at length he was glad to forfeit from his soul all his symbols, to have her making love to him. He loved it when she put her head on his knee, and he had not asked her to or wanted her to, he loved her when she put her arms round him and
