e of the kingdom which He hath
given to me.'

"Mine heart sank down very low. `Thou hast received thy vocation,
then?' I said; and I felt the poor broken thing ache so that I knew it
must be yet alive. Roland would care no more for me, if he had received
a vocation. I must go on yet alone till death freed me. Alone, for
evermore!

"`I have received the blessedest of all vocations,' he answered; `the
call to God Himself. Margaret, art thou thinking that if this be so, I
shall love thee no more? Nay, for I shall love thee more than ever.
Beloved, God is not stone and ice; He is not indifference nor hatred.
Nay, He is love, and whoso dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Open thy heart to that
love, and then this little, little life will soon be over, and we shall
dwell together beside the river of His pleasures, unto the ages of the
ages.'

"`It sounds fair, Roland,' I said; `but it is far away. My soul is hard
and dry. I cannot tell how to open the door.'

"`Then,' said he, `ask Jesus to lift the latch and to come in. Thou
wilt never desire Him to go forth again. I have much to say: but it
hath been long enough now. Every time thou prayest, say also, "Lord
Jesu, come into mine heart and make it soft." He will come if thou
desire Him. And if thou carest not to do this for His sake, do it for
thine own.'

"`I care not for mine own, nor for any thing,' I answered drearily.

"`Then,' saith he, and the old tenderness came into his tone for a
moment, `then, Margaret, do it for mine.'

"I believe he forgot to absolve me: but I did not miss it.

"It is four and twenty years since that day: and during all these years
I have been learning to know Christ our Lord, and the fellowship of His
sufferings. For as time passed on, Roland told me much of saintly men
from whom he had learned, and of many a lesson direct from our Lord
Himself. Now He has taken Roland's place. Not that I love Roland less:
but I love him differently. He is not first now: and all the bitterness
has gone out of my love. Not all the pain. For we came to the
certainty after a time, when he had taught me much, that we had better
bide asunder for this life, and in that which is to come we shall dwell
together for evermore. He was about to resign his post as confessor,
when the Lord disposed of us otherwise, for the Master thought fit to
draft me into the house at Shuldham, and after