The present self must die in any case
by the inevitable process of time, whether the body be kept in repair for
later selves or not. The death of the body is but the end of the daily
dying that makes up earthly life."
They were married in the sitting-room before the picture that had exerted
so strong an influence upon their lives. The servants were invited in,
but there was no company. Ida wore a white satin with a low corsage, and
as she stood directly below the picture, the resemblance impressed the
beholders very strikingly. It was as if the girl had stepped down from
the picture to be married.
Ida had demurred a little to standing just there, which had been the
suggestion of Miss Ludington. She was not without a vague superstition
that the spirit of the girl whose lover she had stolen away would not
wish her well. But when she hinted this, Miss Ludington replied, "You
must not think of it that way. What has a spirit like her to do with
earthly passions? Your love has saved Paul from a dream as vain as it was
beautiful, and which, had it gone on, might have gained a morbid strength
and blighted his life.
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