lone, that one other hand is always in
yours; trusting, clinging, tender, to help you bear whatever comes.

"It means that the infinite love has been given, in part, to you, for
daily strength and comfort. It is a balm for every wound, a spur for
every lagging, a sure dependence in every weakness, a belief in every
doubt. The perfect being is neither man nor woman, but a merging of
dual natures into a united whole. To be married gives a man a woman's
tenderness; a woman, a man's courage. The long years stretch before
them, and what lies beyond no one can say, but they face it, smiling
and serene, because they are together."

"My mother was married," said Araminta, softly. All at once, the stain
of disgrace was wiped out.

"Yes, dear child, and, I hope, to the man she loved, as I hope that
some day you will be married to the man who loves you."

Araminta's whole heart yearned toward Ralph--yearned unspeakably. In
something else, surely, Aunt Hitty was wrong.

"Araminta," said Thorpe, his voice shaking; "dear child, come here."

She followed him into the house. His trembling old hands lighted a
candle and she saw that his eyes were full of tears. From an inner
pocket, he drew out a small case, wrapped in many thicknesses of worn
paper. He unwound it reverently, his face alight with a look she had
never seen there before.

"See!" he said. He opened the ornate case and showed her an old
daguerreotype. A sweet, girlish face looked out at her, a woman with
trusting, loving eyes, a sweet mouth, and dark, softly parted hair.

"Oh," whispered Araminta. "Were you married--to her?"

"No," answered Thorpe, hoarsely, shutting the case with a snap and
beginning to wrap it again in the many folds of paper. "I was to have
been married to her." His voice lingered with inexpressible fondness
upon the words. "She died," he said, his lips quivering.

"Oh," cried the girl, "I'm sorry!" A sharp pang pierced her through
and through.

"Child," said Thorpe, his wrinkled hand closing on hers, "to those who
love, there is no such thing as Death. Do you think that just because
she is dead, I have ceased to care? Death has made her mine as Life
could never do. She walks beside me daily, as though we were hand in
hand. Her tenderness makes me tender, her courage gives me strength,
her great charity makes me kind. Her belief has made my own faith more
sure, her steadfastness keeps me from faltering, and her patience