Part 84 (2/2)

”I should like you to keep it in any case,” Scott said.

”You are very good,” she said earnestly. ”I--I wonder you will have anything to do with me now that you know how--how wicked I am.”

”I don't think you wicked,” he said.

”Don't you?” She opened her heavy eyes a little. ”You don't blame me for--for--” She broke off shuddering, and as she did so, there came again the rumble and roar of a distant train. ”Then why did you stop me?” she whispered tensely.

Scott was silent for a moment or two. He was gazing straight before him.

At length, ”I stopped you,” he said, ”because I had to. It doesn't matter why. You would have done the same in my place. But I don't blame you, partly because it is not my business, and partly because I know quite well that you didn't realize what you were doing.”

”I did realize,” Dinah said. ”If it weren't for you--because you are so good--nothing would have stopped me. Even now--even now--” again the hot tears came--”I've nothing to live for, and--and--G.o.d--doesn't--care.”

She turned her face into her arm and wept silently.

Scott made a sudden movement, and threw his cigarette away. Then swiftly he bent over her.

”Dinah,” he said, ”stop crying! You're making a big mistake.”

His tone was arresting, imperative. She looked up at him almost in spite of herself. His eyes gazed straight into hers, and it seemed to her that there was something magnetic, something that was even unearthly, in their close regard.

”You are making a mistake,” he repeated. ”G.o.d always cares. He cared enough to send a friend to look after you. Do you want any stronger proof than that?”

”I--don't--know,” Dinah said, awe-struck.

”Think about it!” Scott insisted. ”Do you seriously imagine that it was just chance that brought me along at that particular moment? Do you think it was chance that made you draw back yesterday from giving yourself to a man you don't love? Was it chance that sent you to Switzerland in the first place? Don't you know in your heart that G.o.d has been guiding you all through?”

”I don't know,” Dinah said again, but there was less of hopelessness in her voice. The s.h.i.+ning certainty in Scott's eyes was warring with her doubt. ”But then, why has He let me suffer so?”

”Why did He suffer so Himself?” Scott said. ”Except that He might learn obedience? It's a bitter lesson to all of us, Dinah; but it's got to be learnt.”

”You have learnt it!” she said, with a touch of her own impulsiveness.

He smiled a little--smiled and sighed. ”I wonder. I've learnt anyhow to believe in the goodness of G.o.d, and to know that though we can't see Him in all things, it's not because He isn't there. Even those who know Him best can't realize Him always.”

”But still you are sure He is there?” Dinah questioned.

”I am quite sure,” he said, with a conviction so absolute that it placed further questioning beyond the bounds of possibility. ”Life is full of problems which it is out of any man's power to solve. But to anyone who will take the trouble to see them the signs are unmistakable. There is not a single soul that is left unaccounted for in the reckoning of G.o.d.

He cares for all.”

There was no contradicting him; Dinah was too weary for discussion in any case. But he had successfully checked her tears at last; he had even in a measure managed to comfort her torn soul. She lay for a s.p.a.ce pondering the matter.

”I am afraid I am one of those who don't take the trouble,” she said at length. ”But I shall try to now. Thank you for all your goodness to me, Mr. Greatheart.” She smiled at him wanly. ”I don't deserve it--not a quarter of it. But I'm grateful all the same. Please won't you have your smoke now, and forget me and my troubles?”

That smile cheered Scott more than any words. He recognized moreover that the delicate touch of reserve that characterized her speech was the first evidence of returning self-control that she had manifested.

He took out his cigarette-case again. ”I hope you haven't found me over-presumptuous,” he said.

Dinah reached up a trembling hand. ”Presumptuous for helping me in the Valley of Humiliation?” she said.

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