"Yes, I know I was, but I'm not now. I learned Christian Science since I saw you, dear. Oh, it's just wonderful, Venna. It will lift you out of anything."
"Christian Science? I always thought that more visionary than anything else, Anna."
"You don't understand it, dear. Of course, you'll say I have had no trials yet. That's true, but I'm ready for them. I know just how to meet them."
Anna Halloway was round, rosy and radiant—one of that type of healthy, practical womanhood, that imparts a glow to other natures by its warmth and dynamic force. She could not fully appreciate a nature as refined and aspiring as Venna's. On the other hand, Venna's receptive mind drew in gladly the joy of Anna's nature, and her thirsty soul was for the time refreshed.
"In the first place, Venna dear, you must get those ugly thoughts about your husband right out of your mind. You must think well of him—give him your best thoughts, as we say. Then you'll influence him for good."
"But, Anna, how can I think well of him when he married me after such a past? That was unfair to me."
"And you married him without loving him. Weren't you unfair to him? You gave him next to nothing. Now, dear, I'm going to be terribly frank with you, but there is no other way to bring you to your normal senses. I don't suppose you realize that you have led a very selfish life? Now don't feel hurt, dear. You couldn't help it. You've been loved and flattered ever since you were born. You've never sacrificed anything for anyone outside of Venna Hastings or Venna Hadly, have you? Now, dear, you have an unselfish nature. I know that,—but you've never used it. You have just received, received, received. Now just change your position in the bank and be paying teller for awhile."
"I suppose," Venna said reflectively, "if I had gone on with my settlement work, it would have helped."
"It wouldn't at all," exclaimed Anna, decisively. "The way we society women take up settlement work doesn't require any particular sacrifice. It's a novelty, a pleasure, a sort of 'satisfy conscience' relaxation. What you need now is to get out of yourself. Make a real sacrifice for some one who needs it—for instance, your husband."
"You mean I should live with him?" asked Venna, in sudden consternation.