“Do you not know that Helen insists upon a separation?”
“A separation!” Inez repeated, rising to her feet; “why, she worships you! Surely there is some mistake.”
“No; she is convinced that our marriage was all wrong, and that she stands between me and the continuance of this work, which she argues is essential for my development and happiness. It is ridiculous, of course, but I cannot move her.”
“She is right about the work,” the girl said, decidedly; “but there is no one in the world better fitted to enter into it with you than she, if she but knew it. As I said, you will never take it up in the same way again, but having learned what it means you can never eliminate it from your life; and this should draw you and Helen even closer together.”
“My one remaining labor is to convince her of this,” Armstrong replied, feelingly.
“And I will help you do it.”
Armstrong looked at her steadily for a moment. “There is another point upon which she insists, of which I have not told you,” he said.
Inez waited for him to continue.
“She believes that you and I are foreordained for each other,” Armstrong said, bluntly, “and she proposes to step aside to make the realization of this possible.”
The girl gazed at her companion in silent amazement. So this was the cause of Helen’s suffering—this was the price she was willing to pay as a tribute to her friendship for her and her love for her husband!