`` No , he shall not , '' she said stubbornly . `` No one living in my household shall ever go to church or Sunday school . I gave in to you when you wanted to teach him to say his prayers , though I knew it was only foolish superstition , but I sha 'n' t yield another inch . You know exactly how I feel on this subject , Salome ; I believe just as father did . You know he hated churches and churchgoing . And was there ever a better , kinder , more lovable man ? '' `` Mother believed in God ; mother always went to church , '' pleaded Salome . `` Mother was weak and superstitious , just as you are , '' retorted Judith inflexibly . `` I tell you , Salome , I do n't believe there is a God . But , if there is , He is cruel and unjust , and I hate Him . '' `` Judith ! '' gasped Salome , aghast at the impiety . She half expected to see her sister struck dead at her feet . `` Do n't ` Judith ' me ! '' said Judith passionately , in the strange anger that any discussion of the subject always roused in her . `` I mean every word I say . Before you got lame I did n't feel much about it one way or another ; I 'd just as soon have gone with mother as with father . But , when you were struck down like that , I knew father was right . '' For a moment Salome quailed . She felt that she could not , dare not , stand out against Judith .
XXXXX her own sake she could not have done so , but the thought of Lionel Hezekiah nerved her to desperation .
For about against as at if in like of that