he were really too cold ever to
experience that common yet wonderful miracle which turns earth into
heaven for most people once in their lives. She had received much love
and still more admiration in her time; but she had never been allowed to
give what she had to give, and she was essentially of the type of woman
to whom it is more blessed to give than to receive. She had never craved
to be loved, as some women crave; she had only asked to be allowed to
love as much as she was capable of loving, and the permission had been
denied her. As she looked back over her past life, she saw that it had
always been the same. She had given the adoration of her childhood to
Anne Farringdon, and Anne had not wanted it; she had given the devotion
of her girlhood to Felicia, and Felicia had not wanted it; she had given
the truest friendship of her womanhood to Christopher, and Christopher
had not wanted it. As for the men who had loved her, she had known
perfectly well that she was not essential to them; had she been, she
would have married them; but they could be happy without her--and they
were. For Grace she had the warmest sense of comradeship; but Grace's
life was so full on its own account, that Elisabeth could only be one of
many interests to her. Elisabeth was so strong and so tender, that she
could have given much to any one to whom she was absolutely necessary;
but she felt she could give of her best to no man who desired it only as
a luxury--it was too good for that.

"It seems rather a waste of force," she said to herself, with a
whimsical smile. "I feel like Niagara, spending its strength on empty
splashings, when it might be turning thousands of electric engines and
lighting millions of electric lights, if only its power were turned in
the right direction and properly stored. I could be so much to anybody
who really needed me--I feel I could; but nobody seems to need me, so
it's no use bothering. Anyway, I have my art, and that more than
satisfies me; and I will spend my life in giving forth my strength to
the world at large, in the shape of pictures which shall help the world
to be better and happier. At least I hope so."

And with this reflection Elisabeth endeavoured to console herself for
the non-appearance of that fairy prince, who, in her childish dreams,
had always been wounded in the tournament of life, and had turned to her
for comfort.

The years which had passed so drearily for Christopher, had cast their
s