The great thing, perhaps, was to
speak of it while still they could give themselves leave;
a day would arrive, they acknowledged with averted eyes,
when dumbness would be more becoming. Meanwhile, Mrs
Murchison would have found it hard to sustain her charge
against them that they talked of nothing but books and
authors; the philosophy of life, as they were intensely
creating it, was more entrancing than any book or any
author. Simply and definitely, and to their own
satisfaction, they had abandoned the natural demands of
their state; they lived in its exaltation and were far
from accidents. Deep in both of them was a kind of
protective nobility; I will not say it cost them nothing,
but it turned the scenes between them into comedy of the
better sort, the kind that deserves the relief of stone
or bronze. Advena, had she heard it, would have repelled
Dr Drummond's warning with indignation. If it were so
possible to keep their friendship on an unfaltering level
then, with the latitude they had. what danger could attend
them later, when the social law would support them, divide
them, protect them? Dr Drummond, suspecting all, looked
grimly on, and from November to March found no need to
invite Mr Finlay to occupy the pulpit of Knox Church.
They had come to full knowledge that night of their long
walk in the dark together; but even then, in the rush
and shock and glory of it, they had held apart; and their
broken avowals had crossed with difficulty from one to
the other.
Pages:
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293