that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and
crooked things straight.'" Isa. xlii, 16.

"Dear Phyllis, what a little comforter you are! I will be happy.
Indeed, I have reason, for I never dreamed of a lover like Richard--and
he says it was the merest accident that brought you to Europe this
summer."

"Did Richard say 'accident?' Do you know, Elizabeth, I think what men
call 'accident' is really God's own part--his special arrangement or
interposition. We were going to Saratoga, and then one night Bishop
Elliott called, and said he was going to Europe, and as he spoke we
received a letter saying the rooms which we had always occupied were
not to be had, and the Bishop said, 'Go with me to Europe,' and so,
in five minutes we had decided to do so. Richard will dislike to return
to America without you; have you thought of the many changes you must
face? and some deprivations also, Elizabeth. We are not rich. Our
home, beautiful in its way, is very different from Hallam Hall; our
life altogether is unlike yours."

"I fear nothing of all that, Phyllis. But my marriage until Antony
marries is out of the question. I could not leave father until he has
another daughter. That is a thing not to be contemplated."

"Ah, Elizabeth, in my selfishness I had forgotten that! I was only
thinking that when Richard had you, he could better spare me, and that
John and I might have a hope also. But, of course, Uncle Hallam comes
first."

"Yes; as long as my father needs me, my first duty is to him."