"You, Felix!"
"Yes, my dear; I was there, watching over you even then, although I had not the right to do so that I have now."
"And you would not come to me and speak to me, Felix!"
"Dearest! I saw that you were happy, and I felt that I might have been the cause of disturbance, of which Mr. Sheldrake probably would have been glad to avail himself. So I kept myself in the background."
"And suffered," she said, wistfully and tenderly; "for you loved me then, Felix; I know it."
"Yes, darling. I loved you then. But love often shows itself in self-sacrifice."
She paused for a little while before she spoke again. "You said once, Felix, that there is a higher attribute than love--duty!"
"How do you know I said that, Lily?"
"Grandfather told me. Do you believe that duty is a higher quality than love? That supposing these two stand before us, duty on one side, love on the other, duty should be followed and love put aside?"
"Can you not take your answer, Lily, from what I hinted to you on the night you came from the theatre? Duty should be followed first; much that is bitter in life it makes sweet. But when love and duty clash, we should examine ourselves strictly, sternly perhaps, out of justice for others—"