As she thought of it, there came home to her more powerfully than ever before the truth that love is the great secret of life; the vital lesson that the discipline of life is destined to teach us, a lesson written by God Himself in glowing characters for all time to read on the cross of Calvary.
"Life," Aldyth murmured to herself, in the words of her favourite poet—
"'Is energy of love,
Divine or human; exercised in pain,
In strife and tribulation; and ordained,
If so approved and sanctified, to pass,
Through shades and silent rest, to endless joy.'"
Then, beneath the rustling trees with the sweet, summer calm about her, Aldyth cast herself anew upon the Eternal Love, praying to be delivered from vulgar lust of acquisition, from worldly desires and aims, and to be made so pure and loving that she might not miss the vision of God here on this beautiful earth, nor fail to hear the voice of God speaking to her inmost soul.
[CHAPTER XX.]
UNWELCOME CHANGES COME IN FORTUNE'S TRAIN.
"GOOD-BYE, Aldyth! I'm off."
"Off? Off whither, Guy?" asked Aldyth, in her astonishment looking at his outstretched hand without taking it.
She had but just finished breakfast. Guy apparently had breakfasted earlier, for he stood before her, hat and stick in hand. And now Aldyth perceived that his dog-cart stood at the door, and a servant was placing what seemed to be luggage at the back.
"I am going to my own house," said Guy, stiffly. "I was down there on Saturday, and made every arrangement."