Then he took us by surprise, passed beyond human love altogether, and ended up with God's rose:—
'At last I heard a voice upon the slope
Cry to the summit, "Is there any hope?"
To which an answer pealed from that high land,
But in a tongue no man could understand;
And on the glittering limit far withdrawn
God made Himself an awful rose of dawn.'
I did not understand it all; but, when he stopped, I found my eyes were full of tears, and Father was so struck that he went up to speak to Dr Dudley before we came away."
Mona said nothing. What would she not have given to have heard that paper!
"But here comes Dad," Lucy went on. "Father, I want you to tell Mona about that lecture last night."
"Your mother wants you, dear," he said, laying his hand on her shoulder, and then he seated himself by the open window.
"Yes, I confess I was very much struck," he said. "One rarely meets with such fine—appreciation. It seems to me that young man will make his mark. I should greatly like his help with a little bit of work I am doing on Wordsworth just now, so I asked him to come and see me some evening. He promised very cordially to do so to-morrow, and now I want him to meet my elder daughter. If you can spare the time, I am sure you would enjoy hearing him talk. Will you come?"
Mona retained sufficient presence of mind to wonder whether it was worth while trying to conceal how far she had lost it, and then she turned her white face to Mr Reynolds.
"I think I had better not come," she said, rather breathlessly. "I—know Dr Dudley."
Nay, verily! If ever they met again, it should be by no doing of hers.