You must not regret it either, dearest, or reproach yourself in any way, for when we stand together before God’s footstool He will see that from the beginning I was yours and you were mine, and He will cover us with the wings of His loving mercy.

Then don’t think, dear, that I have ever looked upon what happened afterwards—­first in Ellan and then in London—­as, in any sense, a punishment.  I have never done that at any time, and now I believe from the bottom of my heart that, if I suffered while you were away, it was not for my sin but my salvation.

Think, dear!  If you and I had never met again after my marriage, and if I had gone on living with the man they had married me to, my soul would have shrivelled up and died.  That is what happens to the souls of so many poor women who are fettered for life to coarse and degrading husbands.  But my soul has not died, dearest, and it is not dying, whatever my poor body may do, so I thank my gracious God for the sweet and pure and noble love that has kept it alive.

All the same, my darling, to marry again is another matter.  I took my vow before the altar, dear, and however ignorantly I took it, or under whatever persuasion or constraint, it is registered in heaven.

It cannot be for nothing, dear, that our blessed Lord made that stern Commandment.  The Church may have given a wrong interpretation to it—­you say it has, and I am too ignorant to answer you, even if I wished to, which I don’t.  But I am sure my Lord foresaw all such mistakes, and all the hardships that would come to many poor women (perhaps some men, too), as well as the wreck the world might fall to for want of this unyielding stay, when He issued his divine and irrevocable law that never under any circumstances should marriage be broken.

Oh, I am sure of it, dear, quite sure, and before His unsearchable wisdom I bow my head, although my heart is torn.

Yet think, darling, how light is the burden that is laid upon us!  Marriage vows are for this world only.  The marriage law of the Church which lasts as long as life does not go on one moment longer.  The instant death sets my body free, my soul may fly to where it belongs.  If I were going to live ten, twenty, thirty years, this might be cold comfort, but I am not.

Then why should we be sorry?  You cannot be mine in this life and I cannot be yours, so Death comes in its mercy and majesty to unite us!  Our love will go far beyond life, and the moment the barrier of death is passed our union will begin!  And once it begins it will never end!  So Death is not really a separator, but a great uniter!  Don’t you see that, dearest?  One moment of parting—­hardly a moment, perhaps—­and then we shall be together through all Eternity!  How wonderful!  How glorious!  How triumphant!

Do you believe in individual immortality, dear?  I do.  I believe that in the other life I shall meet and know my dear ones who are in heaven.  More than that, I believe that the instant I pass from this life I shall live with my dear ones who are still on earth.  That is why I am willing to go—­because I am sure that the moment I draw my last breath I shall be standing by your side.