"Go!"
He slunk out of the door at once, a ruined and disgraced man.
[CHAPTER XLI.]
A WOMAN'S HEART.
When Dame Fortune frowns severest,
Then I love thee best of all,
I will cling to thee, my dearest,/p>
Though the world in ruins fall.
Dr. Larcher was in his study talking to Reginald Blake, who sat near the writing table, leaning his head upon his hand with his arm resting on the desk. The face of the good Vicar was somewhat clouded, as he felt deeply for the unhappy young man, and he was trying to speak words of comfort to him, although he felt how difficult it was to converse cheerfully under present circumstances. Reginald, however, had taken this second discovery more easily than he had done the first, perhaps because he had suffered so much already that he could not suffer more. At all events, his face, though pale, was perfectly composed, and there was a look of determination about his lips and a serene light in his eyes which gave great satisfaction to Dr. Larcher.
"I must say, my dear boy," he said kindly, "that you have great cause for sorrow, but you must bear adversity like a man, and I feel sure the result will be beneficial to your future life--sooner or later we all feel what Goethe calls 'world sorrow,' and it is that which changes us from careless youth to thoughtful manhood--your trial has come earlier and has been a more bitter one than that of most men, but believe me, out of this apparent evil good will come; remember the saying of the old Roman lyrist, Perrupit Acheronta Herculeus labor--time will bring you relief, and, if you resist manfully, you also will be able to break through this Acheron of sorrow and pain."