“Did he seem angry?”

“Not angry; but rather pleased, I should say.  There was a heartless smile on his face, as if he enjoyed the act of refusal.”

Claire made no further remark.  For a time he groped about, mentally, like one in darkness and lost.  It appeared as if there was no escape; as if the evil which had long dogged his steps was upon him.  But in a short time, a ray of light shone in here and there, paths that might be walked in safely were dimly perceived—­escape seemed possible.  Still, he was deeply depressed and sorely troubled.

Edith received the intelligence in a calmer spirit than her husband had expected.

“The way will be made plain before us,” said she.  “It is plainer now than it was last night—­much plainer.”

“How can you say that, Edith?”

“Mr. Jasper has refused to pay any thing more to us for Fanny’s support.”

“Yes.”

“But in the refusal said nothing about our giving her up to him.”

“Well?”

“I gather from this, and the fact that he was aware of her being twelve years old, that he does not really want her now in his own family, but refuses to pay us for her board and education from a feeling of ill-will toward you.  His manner to the young man who presented the order clearly indicates this.”

“You may be right there, Edith,” said Claire, a further light breaking into his mind.  “We have at least done our duty toward Fanny in making this demand on her guardian.  And now, the question left for us to decide may be whether it will be just toward her, and also toward our own children, still to keep her in our own family, and let her share, with the others, the best that it is in our power to give.”

“And will it be hard to make that decision?” said Edith, a slight flush coming into her earnest face.

“I think not,” was the firm reply.

“Have we loved her less than our own?” asked Edith.

“I believe not.”

“Love seeks the highest good for its object.”

“Yes—­yes.”

“Can a stranger love the child as we have loved her?”

Claire shook his head.

“Can a stranger, even with more of what the world gives, yet with less of a genuine affection, secure for her, as we may, what should justly be regarded as the highest good in life.”

“No stranger can ever be to her, Edith, what you have been, and will continue to be.”

“We must not thrust her out, Edward.  We cannot thrust her out.  While God permits her to remain, let us keep her, assured that He will send for her use all things needful.”

“Most cheerfully will I prolong my daily toil for her sake,” replied Claire; “and cheerfully will I make sacrifice of personal comfort.  Yes, let her remain where she is, so long as, in God’s providence, she is permitted to remain.  If Jasper continues to withhold the price of her maintenance, there will be the more left for her when she becomes of age; and then, if there are defects in her education, a few years of earnest application on her part, will remove them.  Even now, we could compel him to pay for her a reasonable sum, but in securing this, we would assuredly lose the child, for this man’s anger would burn hot against us.”