The assembly broke up, after having appointed a body of guards to attend Javan to Bethany the following evening, and to obey his commands in all things; and the young Pharisee then turned his steps homewards, accompanied by Isaac. All in Zadok's house appeared cheerful and at peace, for Naomi had not communicated her own uneasy feelings and apprehensions even to her mother; and she exerted herself to appear in more than her usual spirits. Never did she sing more sweetly, or converse with more animation; and so gaily did she play with little David, and follow his sportive steps from place to place, that Javan began to imagine that he had been deceived by Reuben, or that the man himself had mistaken some other persons for his sister and Claudia. But yet the minuteness of the particulars which the informer had related, and the names of the individuals which he had repeated, forced him to believe his testimony, corroborated as it was by his own previous suspicions; and he concluded that Naomi was rejoicing in the prospect of her beloved relatives being so quickly removed beyond his reach, and in the hope that her own share in their guilt would remain unknown. She looked so lovely and so innocent, that he thought she could not yet have imbibed very deeply those opinions which he believed to be so impious and so productive of evil; and he longed to see her again restored to her duty, and taking a cheerful part in all those Jewish rites and ceremonies in which he had so often beheld her the admiration of all. Isaac too was much struck with her beauty, her accomplishments, and her amiable manners; and he privately encouraged Javan to adopt gentle measures with her, and if possible to conceal her errors from her parents, until he had himself endeavoured to correct them by argument and persuasion and even by threats. Before the counsellor departed that evening, he took an opportunity of declaring his hopes and wishes to Mary; and she returned a favourable answer. She wished for rank and distinction; and though she had no particular attachment or esteem for Isaac, yet she considered that by uniting herself to him she should obtain the object of her ambition; and as the wife of so noble and powerful a man, she should meet with more consideration, and possess more influence than in her widowed and solitary state. She therefore consented that when her affairs could be settled, and her estates in Peræa disposed of, for the benefit of her son after her death, she would bestow her hand on Isaac; and the arrangement was made known to Zadok and his family as her nearest relatives. They had nothing to oppose to her choice, though her suitor was by no means a favourite with any of them, except Javan. He rejoiced greatly in the proposed connexion, as he thought that Isaac would thus be more firmly united to his own party, and by his increased wealth, be better enabled to assist his projects, and obtain fresh adherents.