Natalia slid off his knee and stood facing him, both of her hands clasped in his.
"I'm so—so glad. Because now I'm going away," she hurried on, "and I'm going to be gone a long time, for I'm going to Boston and I'm going to Europe, and later on Mamma Brandon says I can make the Grand Tour, and when I come back—all grown up and educated and a real young lady and beautiful—you will remember me—won't you? Mammy says gentlemen never forget very beautiful ladies."
Sargent drew her radiant face, all flushed and intense, close to his.
"I'm going to remind you of this some day, Natalia, don't forget. So you are coming back grown up and you are going to let me still love you like I do now?"
"I don't want you to love me like you do now," with a toss of her head.
"No? Why?" and Sargent puzzled over her meaning.
"I want you to love me like I see young gentlemen loving young ladies. Sending them pretty nosegays and going to church with them Sundays and taking them to balls. That's the way I want you to do!"
Sargent's face contracted with sudden pain. He knew so well that he could never fill the role that Natalia had already planned for her lover.
"Nosegays, church going, dances," he repeated after her. "Well," with a sigh, "I might do the first two, anyhow." Then seriously, "Natalia, I want you to remember this." For a moment he stopped and looked directly into her eyes. "You are a child now but you will soon be a woman—a beautiful young lady, as you say. You are going far away from me and it is only natural that you should forget all about me; but don't forget this—I shall always love you, more and more as the years go along. Don't forget that—nor this—that the greatest joy in my life will be to be of some help to you some day, to save you some suffering, to help you to some great happiness. I am starting out to-night on my life work; the path has come to me through suffering, the deepest suffering and despair, but the road is very clear to me now. I see my mission and my work!" He stopped suddenly, his eyes glowing with the radiance of his new found happiness. Then turning slowly back to the little girl, he put his arms about her and lifted her from the ground.
"You couldn't remember all that, dear little Natalia, could you?" He smiled on her yearningly. "But you can remember that when I look down that beautiful road of life I shall always see you standing at the end—the embodiment of all its happiness."