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Page 52
"No, Edward, not so very hard. We have never found it so: have we?"
Love and holy confidence were in her eyes.
"We have had some dark seasons, Edith," said Claire sadly.
"But, through darkest clouds has come the sunbeam. Our feet have
not wandered for want of light. Look back for a moment. How dark
all seemed when the question of leaving Jasper's service came up for
decision. And yet how clear a light shone when the time for action
came. Have you ever regretted what was then done, Edward?"
"Not in a sane moment," replied the young man. "O no, no, Edith!"
speaking more earnestly; "that, with one exception, was the most
important act of my life."
"With one exception?" Edith spoke in a tone of inquiry.
"Yes." Claire's voice was very tender, and touched with a slight
unsteadiness. "The _most_ important act of my life was"--
He paused and gazed lovingly into the face of his wife. She, now
comprehending him, laid, with a pure thrill of joy pervading her
bosom, her cheek to his--and thus, for the space of nearly a minute,
they sat motionless.
"May God bless you, Edith!" said Claire at length, fervently, lifting
his head as he spoke. "You are the good angel sent to go with me
through life. Ah! but for you, how far from the true path might my
feet have strayed! And now," he added, more calmly, "we will look at
the present difficulty steadily, and seek to know the right."
"The right way," said Edith, after she had to some extent repressed
the glad pulses that leaped to her husband's loving words, "is not
always the way in which we most desire to walk. Thorns, sometimes, are
at its entrance. But it grows pleasanter afterward."
"If we can find the right way, Edith, we will walk in it because it is
the right way."
"And we will surely find it if we seek in this spirit," returned the
wife.
"What, then, had we best do?" asked Claire, his thought turning
earnestly to the subject under consideration.
"What will be best for Fanny? That should be our first consideration,"
said his wife. "Will it be best for her to remain with us, or to go
into Mr. Jasper's family?"
"That is certainly a grave question," returned Claire, seriously, "and
must be viewed in many aspects. Mr. Jasper's place in the world is far
different from mine. He is a wealthy merchant; I am a poor clerk. If
she goes into his family, she will have advantages not to be found
with us--advantages of education, society, and position in life. To
keep her with us will debar her from all these. Taking this view
of the case, Edith, I don't know that we have any right to keep her
longer, particularly as Mr. Jasper has signified to us, distinctly,
his wish, as her guardian, to take her into his own family, and
superintend her education."
Edith bent her head, thoughtfully, for some moments. She then said--
"Do you believe that Mr. Jasper gave the true reason for wishing to
have Fanny?"
"That he might superintend her education?"
"Yes."
"No, Edith, I do not. I believe a selfish motive alone influenced
him."
"You have good reasons for so thinking?"
"The best of reasons. I need not repeat them; they are as familiar to
you as they are to me."
"Do you believe that, under his superintendence, she will receive a
better education than under ours?"
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