the asking, where love follows swiftly
upon understanding and understanding upon love.

[Sidenote: The Sceptre of the King]

"To Love and Understand!" He who holds the sceptre of the king may rule
right royally. There is solace for the tired traveller within the
cloister of that other heart, and the pitiful chains which some call
marriage would rust and decay at the entrance to that holy place.

The spotless peace within the inner chamber is his alone. There his
motives are never questioned, nor his words distorted beyond their
meaning, and his daily purposes are ever read aright.

The dream is forever centred upon the coming of The Prince. Sometimes,
with the grim irony of Fate, he is seen when both are bound--and there
are some who deem a heartache too great a price to pay for the
revelation. Now and then, after many years, he comes to claim his own.

[Sidenote: The Grey Angel and the Prince]

And sometimes, too, when one has long waited and prayed for his coming;
when the sight has grown dim with watching and the frosty rime of winter
has softly touched the dark hair, the Grey Angel takes pity and closes
the tired eyes.

The lavender and the dead rose-leaves breathe a hushed fragrance from
the heaps of long-stored linen; the cricket and the tiny clock keep up
their cheery song, because they do not know their gentle mistress can no
longer hear. The slanting sunbeams of afternoon mark out a delicate
tracery upon the floor, and the shadow of the rose-geranium in the
window is silhouetted upon the opposite wall. And then, into the quiet
house, steals something which seems like an infinite calm.

[Sidenote: The Exquisite Peace]

But the dainty little lady who lies fast asleep, with the sun resting
caressingly upon her, has gained, in that mystical moment, both
understanding and love. For there comes an exquisite peace upon her--as
though she had found The Prince.

THE END.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spinster Book, by Myrtle Reed

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