“I understand a little now. Yet when He had redeemed the world there must have been a great joy in His own mind, as well as in heaven.”
“We cannot do anything like that,” I said. “But as He loved us, so we are to love the brethren, the whole world.”
“To be willing to do for them. To seek not our own pleasure altogether. It is very hard, Rose, and sometimes I get discouraged. Then Stephen tells me of his failures. It doesn’t go on continually. It is a little doing all the time, work and healing, and he says it will have to be so in this world.”
“Yes,” I answered. “We cannot hinder nor change. God sets the work before us, and though the pleasant fields are all about us, we have no right to choose our own paths. He knows best in what ways He wants us to walk.”
“I talked to your father yesterday. I did not think I could talk to anybody but you and Stephen. I was sorry for all the pain and anxiety I had caused him—and—it was almost like having a father of one’s own. I don’t wonder that you all have such sweet pleasant natures.”
We met Lily and Tim taking a walk, their hands full of grasses and wild flowers, so we turned them about and all went home together.
The visit proved a very delightful one. We went to the Cascade one day, taking a lunch with us, and on another day the Churchills sent their family carriage over and we had a royal time, crowding it full, and taking turns in driving.
We all noticed the great change in Louis. Not that he was perfect or saintly. In fact I think he was more of a boy, when it came to that, than the summer before. He still had a dangerous tendency to quickness of temper, sometimes he would flush deeply when annoyed, but he always spoke afterward in a low, even tone of voice, as if he had gained the mastery within. His feelings were more healthy-toned, he had a heartsomeness that was genuine. You never mistrusted it as you did Stuart’s.
We ended the festivities with a croquet and tea-party on Saturday afternoon, asking in a half dozen young people who all enjoyed themselves amazingly. To the surprise of everybody, right in the midst of the gayety who should drop down upon us but Stephen Duncan.
“I was homesick to see you all,” he began, with a comically lugubrious face.