Then the Lord Mayor Understanding stood and began to pick and pick, until he handpicked bits of comfort from what the Lord Secretary had said. “First,” he said, “it does not escape notice that this follows my Lord saying that we must yet suffer for our sins. Secondly,” He counted off on his finger, “what He has said sounds as if we will be saved from our enemies in the end, and after enduring the mental anguish of a few more frustrated hopes of good, Emmanuel will come and be our help.”
