I want you, and I am sure that Maud wants you,
just to wait and see. Don't begin by denying the possibility of its
being a transcendental thing. Just hold the facts in your mind, and
as life goes on, see if your experience confirms it, and until it
does, do not pretend that it does. I don't claim to be omniscient.
Something quite definite, of course, lies behind the mystery of
life, and whatever it is, is not affected by what you or I believe
about it. I may be wholly and entirely mistaken, and it may be that
life is only a chemical phenomenon; but I have kept my eyes open,
and my heart open; and I am as sure as I can be that there is
something very much bigger behind it than that. I myself believe
that each being is an immortal spirit, hampered by contact with
mortal laws, and I believe that consciousness and emotion are
something superior even to chemistry. But to use emotion to silence
people would be entirely repugnant to me, and equally to Maud. She
isn't the sort of woman who would be content if you only just said
you believed her. She would hate that!"
"Well," said Howard, smiling, "you are two very wonderful women,
and that's the truth. I am not surprised at YOUR wisdom--it IS
wisdom--because you have lived very bravely and loved many people;
but it's amazing to me to find such courage and understanding in a
girl. Of course you have helped her--but I don't think you could
have produced such thoughts in her unless they had been there to
start with.
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