Turning, he raised both arms, lifting his face with a light upon it which was not the dawn, nor any earthly light, but a pale reflection of the light of Heaven.
“God’s Will!” he said. “When we go home to that great Dwelling Place, our holy passion is to do His Will. All earthly things—loves, hopes, desires—assume their right proportions. The one Essential is the great Will of God—that He in us, by us, through us, may in all things be glorified. All, in our earthly lives, which made for this, abides, and is ours still. All else is dross and cannot stand the fire—that purity of motive which is the very birthright of each immortal soul set free from earthly trammels of the flesh. To know His will and do it—this is Life Eternal; this is the joy supreme.”
His arms dropped. The light faded from his countenance.
“I left it, at the call of earthly love. I stand before you empty, godless, damned.”
“Nigel,” she said; “my heart is broken.”
“I would I had a heart to break,” he said.
The despair in her face left him cold. Yet still her faithful love caught at a straw of comfort.
“At least we are together in our misery.”
“I am going,” he said.
“Nigel! You will not leave me?”