"No. The girl you have just seen. He is her world!"
Ardini's brows met in a saturnine frown.
"Her world will be an empty one!" he said, with an expressive gesture—"A world without fruit or flower,—without light or song! A dreary world! But such as it is,—such as it is bound to be,—it can live on,—a life-in-death."
"Are you quite sure of this?" Morgana asked—"Can any of us, however wise, be quite sure of anything?"
His frown relaxed and his whole features softened. He took her hand and patted it kindly.
"Signora, you know as well as I do, that the universe and all within it represents law and order. A man is a little universe in himself—and if the guiding law of his system is destroyed, there is chaos and darkness. We scientists can say 'Let there be light,' but the fulfilled result 'and there was light' comes from God alone!"
"Why should not God help in this case?" she suggested.
"Ah, why!" and Ardini shrugged his shoulders—"How can I tell? My long experience has taught me that wherever the law has been broken God does NOT help! Who knows whether this frozen wreck of man has obeyed or disobeyed the law? I can do all that science allows—"
"And you will do it!" interrupted Morgana eagerly, "You will use your best skill and knowledge—everything you wish shall be at your service—name whatever fee your merit claims—"
He raised his hand with a deprecatory gesture.