'Can I forget my trouble when I am not able to move?' she said bitterly. And it was sad to see how her hands beat upon the bedclothes. But I held them in mine. They were icy cold. The action seemed to calm her frenzy.
'You cannot forget,' I returned quietly; 'but all this time, all these weary years, you might have learned to forgive Robert.'
'Nay, I will have nothing to do with forgiving,' was the hard answer.
'And yet you say you love him, Phoebe. Why, the very devils would laugh at such a notion of love.'
'Didn't I say I both loved and hated him?' very fiercely.
'Speak the truth, and say you hate him, and God forgive you your sin. But it is a greater one than Robert has committed against you.'
'How dare you say such things to me, Miss Garston?' trying to free her hands; but still I held them fast. 'You will make me hate you next. I am not a pleasant-tempered woman.'
'If you do, I will promise you forgiveness beforehand. Why, you poor creature, do you think I could ever be hard on you?'
The fierce light in her eyes softened. 'Nay, I did not mean what I said; but you excite me with your talk. How can you know what I feel about these things? You cannot put yourself in my place.'
'The heart knoweth its own bitterness, Phoebe; and it may be that in your place I should fail utterly in patience; but if we will not lie still under His hand, and learn the lesson He would fain teach us, it may be that fresh trials may be sent to humble us.'