"Yes."
"Perfectly?"
"Yes."
"You are not afraid of the future?"
"Not for my sake, but I am for yours."
I question her with my eyes; and she adds:
"I am afraid that I shall never be what you want."
I put my hand on her shoulder and said:
"You will be what you are to be; and that is the main thing. It seems to me at this moment that the greatest ideas are nothing, that the fairest dreams are childish compared with the simple reality of a human being's first taste of happiness. You were hidden; and I bring you to the light. You were a prisoner; and I set you free. I see nothing to fetter you; and that is all I ask. The life of a beautiful woman should be like a star whose every beam is the source of a possible joy.... I am glad, for this is the day of your first deliverance."
Rose murmured: