They went to another room to sleep and Joseph stayed in the room where he had eaten as the house had no other quarters.
The next day having slept well, he went on his way, but not without having said goodbye to them. With a great deal of warmth and tenderness, he asked the mother,
“May I take your hand?”
Back then, it was not the done thing for men to touch the hands of married women, but without hesitation, she held out her hands to him. When Joseph took her hands, he felt the same warmth that he had felt on both the previous occasions, filling his whole being, and as he looked into the eyes of the woman, he could see both the young girl and the old woman in them. He thought to himself, "this must be her, the mother of my wife", and without being able to restrain himself, he kissed her
