think of her, I forgot her, I criticized her; it was all my fault."

But even at this moment of exaltation Evelyn realized that it was not
her fault, but Henrietta's own; that it was because she was so unlovable
that she was so little loved.

"But if she had had the chance she wouldn't have been unlovable. She was
capable of greater love than any of us, and she never had the chance. If
there is any justice and mercy in the world how can they allow a poor,
weak human creature to have so few opportunities, such hard temptations,
and when it yields to temptation to suffer so cruelly? And now I am to
go back, and be happy with Herbert and the boys, and to feel quite truly
that I did everything I could, _I can't bear it_."

She was so much filled with her thoughts that she had not observed the
flight of time. She looked up, and was suddenly aware that the night had
come, and that the sky was shining with innumerable stars. At the same
moment she felt inextricably mingled with the stars, a rush of the most
exquisite sensation, emotion, replenishment she had ever known. She felt
through every fibre of her being that it was all perfectly well with
Henrietta, and that the bitterness, aimlessness, and emptiness of her
life was made up to her. This conviction was a thousand times more real
to her than the room in which she was standing, more real than the
stars, more real than herself. Tears of delight came raining down her
cheeks, and she found that she was saying over and over again, "Darling,
I am so glad"; poor childish words, but no more inadequate than the
noblest in the language to express her unspeakable comfort, beyond all
utterance, even beyond thought. How often she said these words, or how
long this bliss lasted she could not tell.

A strange dream-like remembrance of it stayed with her for some days.
She told her husband, and he said, "I am very glad of anything that can
be a comfort to you, dearest;" but he looked at her anxiously, and
thought it was a sign that she was to be ill again. However, she
continued well and strong. She told no one else, but from henceforth she
was perfectly happy about Henrietta.

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| Transcriber's Note: |
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| Changes to the original have been made as follows: |
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