Was it
long, or was it short? Was it uphill, or was it down?
For her, at least, it should be smooth, if a man's love
could make it so.
We were away for several weeks in the Isle of Man,
and then came back to Oakley Villa, where Miss Williams
was awaiting us in a house in which even my mother could
have found no dust, and with a series of cheering legends
as to the crowds of patients who had blocked the street
in my absence. There really was a marked increase in my
practice; and for the last six months or so, without
being actually busy, I have always had enough to occupy
me. My people are poor, and I have to work hard for a
small fee; but I still study and attend the local
hospital, and keep my knowledge up-to-date, so as to be
ready for my opening when it comes. There are times
when I chafe that I may not play a part upon some larger
stage than this; but my happiness is complete, and if
fate has no further use for me, I am content now from my
heart to live and to die where I am.
You will wonder, perhaps, how we get on--my wife and
I--in the matter of religion. Well, we both go our own
ways. Why should I proselytise? I would not for the
sake of abstract truth take away her child-like faith
which serves to make life easier and brighter to her. I
have made myself ill-understood by you in these
discursive letters if you have read in them any
bitterness against the orthodox creeds.
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