Both Zadok and Salome strongly opposed the idea that Javan could be guilty of an act of such cruelty towards a near kinsman; but when they heard the various reasons which existed for suspecting him, and were informed of the listener who had been observed in Mary's garden, they began to entertain the same opinion, and promised to exert all their influence and authority to induce him to repair the injury he had done, and restore his family to happiness again. The lady of Bethezob listened with interest and astonishment to the conversation of her friends, for until that moment she had not known that she had been associating with Nazarenes. It is true she had seen very little of Amaziah and his family: but with Naomi she had lived on terms of intimacy, and for her she entertained a great affection. The idea of any longer concealing from Javan that his sister had embraced Christianity was laid aside, for all were equally convinced that he already knew it; and therefore Mary's presence was no check to the freedom of the discourse, and her inquiries were satisfied by a plain statement of the fact, and an injunction that she would observe a perfect secrecy on the subject towards all but the inmates of the house. She was a kind-hearted woman when her natural feelings were not biassed by passion or prejudice, and her sympathy was warmly excited both towards Naomi and Claudia. She wondered at their religious infatuation, for in her mind that all-important subject was a matter of taste and feeling, and not of deep principle and absorbing interest; yet she grieved for their afflictions, and those of the bereaved parents, and would gladly have lent her aid to remove them. All that wealth could do she cheerfully offered; but Claudia hoped more from her influence with Isaac, when it should appear that he was concerned in the unhappy business, than from the power of her riches. Indeed from this hope she derived her greatest and almost her only comfort; for when she saw how kindly Mary espoused her cause, and how eagerly she proffered her assistance, she began to feel that all was not yet lost, and that through her means the liberty of Theophilus might possibly be obtained. It was late when Javan re-entered the house, and he attributed his long absence to the difficulty he had found in tracing the lost Theophilus.