“Ay, you may weel say that. But it is a lesson that we are slow to learn; and the Lord winna let us forget.”
There was a pause.
“When was it?” asked Graeme, softly.
“Six weeks ago this very night, I have been thinking, since I sat here. Her trouble was short and sharp, and she was glad to go.”
“And would she have come?”
“Ay, lass, but it wasna to be, as I might have kenned from the beginning. I thought I asked God’s guiding, and I was persuaded into thinking I had gotten it. But you see my heart was set on it from the very first—guiding or no guiding—and now the Lord has seen fit to punish me for my self-seeking.”
“Oh, Janet!” said Graeme, remonstratingly.
“My dear, it’s true, though it sets me ill to vex you with saying it now. I have more need to take the lesson to heart. May the Lord give me grace to do it.”
Graeme could say nothing, and Janet continued—
“It’s ill done in me to grieve for her. She is far better off than ever I could have made her with the best of wills, and as for me—I must submit.”