“But you have none to love you best,” said Dora.
“I have enough: you, Maurice, my sisters, and the children; I am rich in love, and loving hearts.”
“And do they satisfy you?”
“No, I should be sorry if they did. Nothing of this world can, in itself: it is only as it partakes of the nature of Heaven, that it can fill the soul. But, Dora, the one whom I loved best in this world is at peace, his longing for perfection is satisfied, his hunger for righteousness is filled now; no sorrow can touch him, no pain, no trouble more; and I shall join him, I trust, at last. What else have I to wish for now?”
“Still, Hilary, it seems sad.”
“Who, going through the vale of misery, use it for a well, and the pools are filled with water,” continued Hilary; “do you remember what follows, Dora? My best treasure is safe, and for the rest, though I can joy and weep with you all, I can not attach my heart to earth again. But does my gravity distress you?”
“Oh no, no, no! you are not sad to look at, you are all love, and peace, and sympathy; what should we do without you?”
“That is my happiness, so far as earth is concerned, to love and to serve here below, in the hope that in my home above I may serve and love forever.”
THE END.