the verge of a discovery which in its divine simplicity should make
all problems clear and all difficulties easy, when I had been gently
but firmly held back by a force invisible, and warned, 'Thus far,
and no farther!' To oppose this force or make any personal effort to
rebel against it, is no part of my faith,--therefore at such moments
I had always yielded instantly and obediently as I yielded now. I
was not allowed to fathom the occult source of my happiness, but the
happiness remained,--and when I retired to rest it was with more
than ordinary gratitude that I said my usual brief prayer:--For the
day that is past, I thank Thee, O God my Father! For the night that
has come, I thank Thee! As one with Thee and with Nature I
gratefully take the rest Thou hast lovingly ordained. Whether I
sleep or wake my body and soul are Thine. Do with them as Thou wilt,
for Thy command is my joy. Amen.

I slept as soundly and peacefully as a child, and the next day
started on my journey in the brightest of bright summer weather. A
friend travelled with me--one of those amiable women to whom life is
always pleasant because of the pleasantness in their own natures;
she had taken a house for the season in Inverness-shire, and I had
arranged to join her there when my trip with the Harlands was over,
or rather, I should say, when they had grown weary of me and I of
them. The latter chance was, thought my friend, whom I will call
Francesca, most likely.

"There's no greater boredom,"--she declared--"than the society of an
imaginative invalid. Such company will not be restful to you,--it
will tire you out. Morton Harland himself may be really ill, as he
says--I shouldn't wonder if he is, for he looks it!--but his
daughter has nothing whatever the matter with her,--except nerves."