"Yes, I do."
"I see things differently now. I hardly like to say it, but I think I've got a different centre in my life. I hope I have the right one; I should like to tell you about it."
Miss Lorraine listened with a glad heart. The answer to her many prayers had come.
She was able to give Jean wise counsel at this juncture, for, like many beginners, the girl had her ups and downs, and could not understand why her feelings should vary so—why one day she felt able to do and dare great things for her Master, and other days would be cold and indifferent; afraid of being thought peculiar or fanatical, and hopelessly discouraged by her inconsistency of conduct.
"Don't expect to walk without falling, Jean. Aim at doing it. There is no necessity for lowering your standard, but a fall does not mean instant loss of God's grace and love. Tell Him about it, and His hand will be outstretched at once. Remember Peter on the stormy lake. We none of us can always walk on smooth waters. Upheavals will take place; we may be shaken, knocked down, but a Christian will find his feet again, and perhaps be a humbler, truer Christian in consequence."
"Am I right to keep to my art, Miss Lorraine? Is it waste of life?"
"I think not at present, as long as you do not let it crowd out the better things in your life."
So Jean worked on in her School of Art, and was busy and happy as the winter passed by.
The winter brought Miss Lorraine a heavy trouble. Colonel Douglas came and went as usual, but her quick eyes noticed a greyness and pallor about his face, and a weariness that he in vain tried to hide.
She taxed him with it at last.