It is you who bless me, and give me back the strength that I had lost.
Rhoda.
I?
Michaelis.
A little while ago you told me your life's bitter story. I tasted your struggle, went down with you into the depths of your anguish, and in those depths,—the miracle! Behold, once more the stars looked down upon me from their places, and I stood wondering as a child wonders. Out of those depths arose new-born happiness and new-risen hope. For in those star-lit depths of pain and grief, I had found at last true love. You needed me. You needed all the powers I had thrown away for your sake. You needed what the whole world needs—healing, healing, and as I rose to meet that need, the power that I had lost poured back into my soul.
Rhoda.
Oh, if I thought that could be!
Michaelis.
By the mystery that is man, and the mercy that is God, I say it is so.—
Puts his hand on her head, and gazes into her face.