Page:The Redemption of Anthony (1911).djvu/136

 spare me—you and Tony, you two people whom I love dearest and best."

"But, dear, doesn't Tony know?"

"No, and he must never know."

"Perhaps if I had never come home at all you might have had this happiness."

"Priscilla, don't make me regret that I have laid my soul bare to you."

Priscilla touched her mother's hand with her cheek. "You gave your happiness to me! I'd like to give mine all to you."

"It was not meant for me. Some of us grow to our full height through joy and fulfilment, some through suffering and renunciation."

"But does growth count without the joy?"

"Can you ask me that, dear, when you see the serenity of my life, now grown big with loving?"

"I wonder if my joy will bring me to the height you've reached!"

"You should go farther, with your husband's help, and as for him, you've brought him to his own—"