atever she
had to give she owed to South Africa. She gradually thought herself
into a state in which she existed for herself and her own inclinations
no more, but only for that sacred claim upon her.

For the spirit of noble deeds, the spirit that carried Joan of Arc to
the rescue of her country and to martyrdom, is not dead in the world,
though no modern historian may depict a woman in armour leading allied
armies on the battlefield. In quieter guise, in hidden corners, in
unsung self-forgetfulness, women still answer to the divine call that
sounds in their hearts, more inspiringly perhaps than in a man's; and
for the everlasting good of the human race let us hope it will never
cease to sound.

Lamartine has said: "Nature has given woman two painful but heavenly
gifts which distinguish her from the condition of men, and often raise
her above it: pity and enthusiasm. Through pity she sacrifices
herself; enthusiasm ennobles her. Self-sacrifice and enthusiasm! What
else is there in heroism? Women have more heart and imagination than
men. Enthusiasm arises from the imagination, self-sacrifice springs
from the heart. They are therefore by nature more heroic than heroes."

Enthusiasm and a divine spirit of self-sacrifice held a very deep part
in Meryl's heart, though never for a moment would the thought of
heroism have occurred to her. Where Diana, out of her mocking, but
staunch and loyal heart, amused herself dashing cold water and playful
satire upon all heroics, Meryl said nothing at all, but at a critical
moment both were equally capable of _acting_.

And it did not require much thought on Meryl's part to see now where
this spirit of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice seemed to call her. South
Africa was at the cross-roads; she was at the period of her most
urgent need for great women as well as great men. The only question
that seemed to arise was, what did she specially want of the women
ready to serve her?

In her own case Meryl found an answer from the lips of Carew himself.
"Intermarriage," he had said; "that is the real solution to this great
barrier of racialism. The same hopes united upon the same hearth." And
it did not need much thought to perceive that should she, the admired
and beloved heiress, fondly expected to marry an English nobleman and
blossom into a peeress, marry instead a Dutchman and devote herself
absolutely to South Africa, she would give a tremendous impetus to
this question of intermarriage