"I am afraid," he said at length, in a tone of gentle compassion,
"that you must have suffered a great deal, Caresfoot."
"Suffered! I have suffered the tortures of the damned! I still suffer
them, I shall always suffer them."
"I do not wish," said the clergyman, with a little hesitation, "to
appear officious or to make a mockery of your grief by telling you
that it is for your good; but I should fail in my duty if I did not
point out to you that He who strikes the blow has the power to heal
the wound, and that very often such things are for our ultimate
benefit, either in this world or the next. Carry your troubles to Him,
my dear fellow, acknowledge His hand, and, if you know in your heart
of any way in which you have sinned, offer Him your hearty repentance;
do this, and you will not be deserted. Your life, that now seems to
you nothing but ashes, may yet be both a happy and a useful one."
Philip smiled bitterly as he answered--
"You talk to me of repentance--how can I repent when Providence has
treated me so cruelly, robbing me at a single blow of my wife and my
fortune? I know that I did wrong in concealing my marriage, but I was
driven to it by fear of my father.
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