The world may reach a stage at last where we shall live on in the
lives of all--we may all be one big family. But that time is still far
off--we hold to our own flesh and blood. And so I'm sure it will be with
you. You see you have been young, my dear, and your spirit has been fresh
and new. But how are you going to keep it so, without the ties you've
always had?" He felt the violent clutch of her hand.
"_You won't die_!" she whispered. But he went on relentlessly:
"And what will you do without Allan Baird? For you see you have not even
worked alone. You have had this man who has loved you there. I've seen how
much he has helped you--how you have grown and he has grown since you two
got together. And if you throw him over now, it seems to me you are not
only losing what has done the most for your work, but you're running away
from life as well. You've never won by doing that, you've always won by
meeting life, never evading it, taking it all, living it full, taking
chances! If you marry Baird, I see you both go on together in your work,
while in your home you struggle through the troubles, tangles, joys and
griefs which most of us mortals know so well! I see you in a world of
children, but with children, too, of your own--to keep your spirit always
young! Living on in your children's lives!"
Roger stopped abruptly. He groped for something more to say.
"On the one side, all that," he muttered, "and on the other, a lonely life
which will soon grow old.
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