"I think so."

"Our minister inveighs against ambition, as if it were one of the
deadly sins."

"He means the ambition that is all for self. That is as wrong and
contemptible as the beauty that is miserable without a looking-glass.
An ardent desire to obtain my Divine Master's approval, and to be
worthy of it--to be successful in serving a noble cause--cannot be
wrong."

She looked at his earnest face and eyes, that seemed to glow with
hidden fire, almost wistfully; and said with a tinge of sadness, "You
will feel very differently I fear, twenty years hence. Enthusiasm
is a rare thing in the city, and I imagine it is soon quenched
everywhere."

"So it is; it needs constant rekindling."

Just then Mrs. Marchmont and Mr. Dimmerly appeared, and soon after
they all sat down to a late breakfast.






CHAPTER VI.