Flora did not shrink. Women can stand
anything. The dear creatures have no imagination when it comes to solid
facts of life. In sentimental regions--I won't say. It's another thing
altogether. There they shrink from or rush to embrace ghosts of their
own creation just the same as any fool-man would.
No. I suppose the girl Flora went on that errand reasonably. And then,
why! This was the moment for which she had lived. It was her only point
of contact with existence. Oh yes. She had been assisted by the Fynes.
And kindly. Certainly. Kindly. But that's not enough. There is a kind
way of assisting our fellow-creatures which is enough to break their
hearts while it saves their outer envelope. How cold, how infernally
cold she must have felt--unless when she was made to burn with
indignation or shame. Man, we know, cannot live by bread alone but hang
me if I don't believe that some women could live by love alone. If there
be a flame in human beings fed by varied ingredients earthly and
spiritual which tinge it in different hues, then I seem to see the colour
of theirs.
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