"
"Should I feel very guilty because I have not more of that substantial
quality which can only find adequate expression in Latin?" she asked,
with a humorous glance.
"Oh, no! At least not in my opinion. I much prefer a woman in whom the
spirit is pre-eminent over the clay. We are all made of dust, you know,
and we men, I fear, often smack of the soil too strongly; therefore we
are best pleased with contrasts. Moreover, our country life will brace
you without blunting your nature. I should be sorry for you, though, if
you were friendless, and had to face the world alone."
"That can scarcely happen now," she said, with a grateful glance.
During the early part of the evening they all became absorbed in a story,
which Webb read aloud. At last Mr. Clifford rose, drew aside the
curtains, and looked out. "Come here, Amy," he said. "Look where the
storm thundered a few hours since!"
The sky was cloudless, the winds were hushed, the stars shining, and the
mountains stood out gray and serene in the light of the rising moon.
"See, my child, the storm has passed utterly away, and everything speaks
of peace and rest. In my long life I have had experiences which at the
time seemed as dark and threatening as the storm that awed you in the
early evening, but they passed also, and a quiet like that which reigns
without followed. Put the lesson away in your heart, my dear; but may it
be long before you have occasion for its use! Good-night.
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