“My father has been smitten to the heart. My brother is always in danger. Don’t take away any of my courage by telling me I shall not be useful to them.”
Raymond gave in and ceased to struggle. He felt warned intuitively of his defeat, from the look in Margaret’s eyes still more than from her words, yet he tried to put off the moment of defeat. With a timid and softened voice he begged her for a delay.
“And if I wait for you, will you marry me?” he said. “If I remain faithful to you until the time when you have fulfilled your task for your family, will you come to me? I love you so much that rather than lose you I shall know how to be patient. It will be cruel and sweet together. Won’t you, Margaret?”
The girl’s eyes clouded a moment at this romantic and heroic proposal. He saw she was more human, and he believed she was yielding to him. He conceived a new hope from it, which her reply dissipated with its first words.
“No, Raymond, I shan’t consent to build my future on your sorrow. It’s impossible. You have not understood me entirely. I have given myself to God. Don’t try to take me back.”
“Ah, Margaret!”
“To give myself to God is to give myself to all those that suffer.”
“I understand now. You want to join some religious order.”
“I don’t know yet. There are very many ways of serving God. Don’t tell any one yet what I’ve told you. You’re crying. Don’t cry, Raymond. God will console you, as he has consoled me.”
“No, not me.”