“Stop!” she cried, wrenching her hand away from his clasp. “Don’t you ever dare to speak such words to me again! Don’t dare to talk about the wonderful words of inspiration in that way. It is blasphemy!”
“Now, my dear child——” he began, trying to get possession of her hand once more, “you have wholly misunderstood me. The words of Scripture are just as beautiful to me, and just as sacred in their way as they are to you. It is a mere difference of the way of looking at them. Now I——”
“Mr. Harrington, I am not interested in how you look at the Bible. I would rather not hear you tell about it. You have filled me with horror.”
“Are you not interested that I am telling you that I love you?” he asked in deep impassioned tones. “I am asking you now to be my wife? Cannot we put these trivial things away and be one in spirit now?” He leaned toward her gently and tried to capture the little gloved hand once more.
But Joyce quickly put her Bible in it and drew away from him.
“No!” she said. “No. We could never be one in spirit or in anything else while you deny the inspiration of the Scriptures and call those wonderful expositions that we heard tonight rot and twaddle and nonsense. You are one of those people that it warns against in the Bible: ‘Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy, and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.’ It also says: ‘Avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science, falsely so called.’”
“Now Joyce, please don’t quote Scripture at me. Let us drop that. If we love each other those things will settle themselves by and by. Let us talk a little while about ourselves. Tell me, you love me, Joyce, don’t you? I’m sure I’ve seen it in your eyes.”
“No,” said Joyce frankly, “I don’t think I do. I don’t think it would be possible for me to love any one who thought of the things that are the most precious to me in the way you do.”
“But, those things aside, you really in your heart love me? Tell me you do, Joyce. I long to hear you say the words. Just speak out your own true heart. Once that question is settled, the other things will all fall in line.”
“I can’t put those things aside, Professor Harrington. They are a part of my soul. Nothing counts without them.”