"Love begets love, father dear. I could light the flame in her heart, for I am dear to her as a brother, as her father's son."
"Then her dream of the convent, which she has cherished so many years, cannot be more than a dream, if she resigned it for you."
"I cannot argue with you," he said hopelessly, "and it's a sad subject. There is only the will of God to be done."
"And if you were free," went on Monsignor smiling, "and tried and failed to light love in her heart, you would suffer still more."
"A little more or less would not matter. I would be happy still to give her to God."
"I see, I see," shaking his sage head. "To God! As long as it is not to another and luckier fellow, the resignation is perfect."
Arthur broke into a laugh, and the priest said casually:
"I think that by the law of the Church you are a free man."
Arthur leaped to his feet with a face like death.
"In the name of God!" he cried.