Therese’s father called down to his Little Queen from the top of a ladder to stand aside if he should fall and crush her. She recalls coming closer, thinking of her beloved father, “If he falls down, I will not have the grief of seeing him die; I shall die too.” She revered him as her King, and thought his wisdom could make France happier if he were the King.

At the age of six or seven, Therese for the first time visits the sea, whose waves “spoke to my soul of God’s power and grandeur.” At sunset, Marie describes the path of light across the water as “the path to heaven when grace lights up the way.” Therese imagines her “tiny ship” sailing down that path of gold toward heaven, never out of the sight of Jesus.