"Then what did Deacon Belknap mean?"
"Why, if I should treat Lewis very coldly and indifferently, forget to notice him sometimes, go for days without talking with him, neglect his suggestions, disregard his advice, and all that sort of thing, I imagine that we should not be very happy together."
"Well?" said Dorothy, in bewilderment.
"Well, don't you know, dear, that that is just the way in which many Christians actually treat Christ? And then Satan blinds their hearts into thinking that it is not their own fault that their joy in him is gone, but a necessity, because of this troublesome world. If I were you I would not tolerate any such insinuations; it is an insult to Jesus Christ, who deliberately says he will keep you in 'perfect peace,' if your mind is stayed on him."
"Then all that isn't necessary?"
"No more necessary than that I should have days of gloom and disappointment over my husband. Oh, it is lowering the power and love of Christ to make that comparison, because, Dorrie, his love is infinite, and he says everlasting."
Dorothy went through the hall below singing,—
"Mine is an unchanging love;
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath;
Free and faithful—strong as death."
She had found that hymn in the morning, while Mr. Butler was preaching, and had rejoiced in it for a little until Deacon Belknap had banished it from her heart. Now it came back in strength, and it will take more than Deacon Belknap to shake it, for it has taken root.
That Sabbath day had one more experience to be remembered. If Louise's little plan for the walk home from the social had been made with a view to rousing Lewis, she could not more successfully have accomplished it.