Lilith bent forward and sent him a smile of acknowledgment. Then her eyes travelled round the circle and rested on her hostess’s face. The two women looked at one another long and steadily and a flush rose into Mrs Ingram’s cheeks.
“I think,” she said quietly, “I must reckon Lilith among my successes. Mr Lowther, may I tell you how proud my husband and I feel to number you among our guests to-night? Ordinary people who can only stand by and watch feel a profound gratitude to workers like yourself, who are types of all that is honourable and disinterested. England owes you a great debt to-day.”
Every man present joined in a murmur of assent, for though political opinions differed, one and all acknowledged the singleness of Lowther’s aim. Across one or two minds flitted a remembrance of the tragic eclipse which had marked the statesman’s early career, but in each case the remembrance brought with it an increased admiration. Not one man in a thousand would have had the power to climb out of so deep a ditch!
And now, one by one, the nine histories had been discussed, and the company instinctively drew their chairs nearer the fire, watching with questioning eagerness the eloquent face of the woman whose words had had so large a bearing on their lives. Here she was, an old woman now, worn to the point of breaking, yet vital, as ever, with the flame of an encompassing sympathy.
“Ah, dear people,” she sighed, “dear people, it is so good to meet you again! I am so grateful to you for coming. The remembrance of this night will be company for me during many quiet days. I shall have much to think over, but at present I am conscious only of one thing—that my prophecy is true, is almost terribly true! We are only faintly beginning to understand the real power of steady, concentrated will. The thing that a man aims for, with a strong, single, undeviating aim, that thing, sooner or later, a man can have! So much is certain, but I blame myself for not insisting more upon the initial question. Is it worth while? Oh, dear people, so often our ambitions are not worth while. An aim which is to ride dominant over every call, an aim for which all hindrances are to be cast aside, must needs have a spiritual nature, if it is to satisfy a spiritual being. In the days to come, teach your children the importance of this great decision; teach them their power, but be sure, be very sure, to teach them to think long and earnestly, lest in their blindness they choose the dross, and go starving all their days!”
John Malham leaned back in his chair, so that his face was in the shadow. Francis Manning’s eyes gazed deeply into space. Across the silence broke the harp-like tones of Eve Dempster’s voice:
“Mrs Ingram, you have gained your own wish. It is written in your face that it was worth while. Will you tell us what it was?”
The hostess looked down at her thin, locked hands. Her voice trembled, as she slowly recited her answer, dwelling with eloquent emphasis on one of the earlier words:
“I have—Learned—in whatever state I am, therewith to be Content!”
The End.