"
"You must have the temptation, if you are to have the credit of
overcoming it."
"Is there not a wonderful petition left for us by One who knows all
things? 'Lead us not into temptation.'"
"I do not think this is a parallel case. God's way with His people, ever
since Eve was denied the fruit in Eden, has been to prove them by
temptation. His promise that there shall, with the temptation, be a way
of escape, is what we need to claim."
"My way of escape will be to go back to Oaklands, where an occasional tea
party will be the most dangerous allurement to vanity in my way."
"But you will not always remain there. Mr. Winthrop will not be so remiss
in his duty as your guardian as to bury you there. Marriage, and a
judicious settlement in life, are among the probabilities of your near
future."
My cheeks crimsoned; for marriage was one of the tabooed subjects of
conversation at Madame Buhlman's. Only in the solitude of our own rooms
did we dare to converse on such a topic. But no doubt we wove our
romances as industriously, and dreamed our dreams of the beautiful,
impossible future stretching beyond our dim horizons, as eagerly as if
we had been commanded to spend a certain portion of each day in its
contemplation.
Mrs. Flaxman noticed my embarrassment, and, after a few moments
said:--"Perhaps the fairy prince has already claimed his own."
I laughed lightly, but still felt ill at ease as I said: "I have never
met him, and begin to doubt if he has an existence.
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