And the Rev. John Meredith forgot to go to bed at all because he was absorbed in reading a life of St. Augustine . It was gray dawn when he finished it and went upstairs , wrestling with the problems of two thousand years ago . The door of the girls ' room was open and he saw Faith lying asleep , rosy and beautiful . He wondered where Una was . Perhaps she had gone over to `` stay all night '' with the Blythe girls . She did this occasionally , deeming it a great treat . John Meredith sighed . He felt that Una 's whereabouts ought not to be a mystery to him . Cecelia would have looked after her better than that . If only Cecelia were still with him ! How pretty and gay she had been ! How the old manse up at Maywater had echoed to her songs ! And she had gone away so suddenly , taking her laughter and music and leaving silence -- so suddenly that he had never quite got over his feeling of amazement . How could SHE , the beautiful and vivid , have died ? The idea of a second marriage had never presented itself seriously to John Meredith . He had loved his wife so deeply that he believed he could never care for any woman again . He had a vague idea that before very long Faith would be old enough to take her mother 's place . Until then , he must do the best he could alone . He sighed and went to his room , where the bed was still unmade . Aunt Martha had forgotten it , and Mary had not dared to make it because Aunt Martha had forbidden her to meddle with anything in the minister 's room .
But Mr. XXXXX did not notice that it was unmade .
Augustine Blythe Cecelia Martha Mary Maywater Meredith Una night second