spirits. If these were really Mirah's
relatives, he could not imagine that even her fervid filial piety could give the
reunion with them any sweetness beyond such as could be found in the strict
fulfilment of a painful duty. What did this vaunting brother need? And with the
most favourable supposition about the hypothetic mother, Deronda shrank from the
image of a first meeting between her and Mirah, and still more from the idea of
Mirah's domestication with this family. He took refuge in disbelief. To find an
Ezra Cohen when the name was running in your head was no more extraordinary than
to find a Josiah Smith under like circumstances; and as to the coincidence about
the daughter, it would probably turn out to be a difference. If, however,
further knowledge confirmed the more undesirable conclusion, what would be wise
expediency? - to try and determine the best consequences by concealment, or to
brave other consequences for the sake of that openness which is the sweet fresh
air of our moral life.
 

                                 Chapter XXXIV

 »Er ist geheissen
 Israel. Ihn hat verwandelt
 Hexenspruch in einen Hund.

 Aber jeden Freitag Abend,
 In der Dämmrungstunde, plötzlich
 Weicht der Zauber, und der Hund
 Wird aufs Neu' ein menschlich Wesen.«
                                                      Heine: Prinzessin Sabbath.
 
When Deronda arrived at five o'clock, the shop was closed and the door was
opened for him by the Christian servant. When she showed him into the room
behind the shop he was surprised at the prettiness of the scene. The house was
old, and rather extensive at the back: probably the large room he now entered
was gloomy by daylight, but now it was agreeably lit by a fine old brass lamp
with seven oil-lights hanging above the snow-white cloth spread on the central
table. The ceiling and walls were smoky, and all the surroundings were dark
enough to throw into relief the human figures, which had a Venetian glow of
colouring. The grandmother was arrayed in yellowish brown with a large gold
chain in lieu of the necklace, and by this light her yellow face with its
darkly-marked eyebrows and framing roll of grey hair looked as handsome as was
necessary for picturesque effect. Young Mrs. Cohen was clad in red and black,
with a string of large artificial pearls wound round and round her neck: the
baby lay asleep in the cradle under a scarlet counterpane; Adelaide Rebekah was
in braided amber; and Jacob Alexander was in black velveteen with scarlet
stockings. As the four pairs of black eyes all glistened a welcome at Deronda,
he was almost ashamed of the supercilious dislike these happy-looking creatures
had