“Then the question comes to the same thing. Why does God not guide us to long for the thing that He means to give us?”
“He very often does.”
“Then,” pursued the Earl, a little impatiently, “why does He not turn us away from that which He does not intend us to have?”
“My Lord,” said the Predicant, gravely, “from the day of his fall, man has always been asking God why. He will probably go on doing it to the day of the dissolution of all things. But I do not observe that God has ever yet answered the question.”
“It is wrong to ask it, then, I suppose,” said the Earl, with a weary sigh.
“It is not faith that wants to know why. ‘He that believeth hasteneth not.’ (Isaiah 28, verse 16, Vulgate version.) ‘What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.’ (John 13 verse 7.) We can afford to wait, my Lord.”
“Easily enough,” replied the Earl, with feeling, “if we knew it would come right in the end.”
“It will come as He would have it who laid down His life that you should live for ever. Is that not enough for my Lord?”
Perhaps the Prince felt it enough. At all events, he gave no answer.
“Well, that is not my notion of going comfortably through life!” observed Miss Elaine Criketot, in a decided tone. “My idea is to pull all the plums out of the cake, and leave the hard crusts for those that like them.”