I am about at the end of my resources. I
shall not do anything rash or silly. I shall do my best while I have
power to do anything. I do not propose to reproach you for the past.
It's gone now, and can't be helped. My proposal to you is that _you_
begin also. You have tried pleasing yourself and thinking of self
first pretty thoroughly. You know what it is to be a belle. Now, why
not try the experiment of being a true, earnest, unselfish woman,
whose first effort is to do right. Believe me, Stella, there is a God
in heaven who thwarts selfishness and punishes it in ways often
least expected. The people with whom we associate soon recognize
the self-seeking spirit, and resent it. You have had a terrible and
practical illustration of what I say. Are you not a girl of too much
mind to make the same blunder again? With your youth you need not
spoil your life, or that of others, unless you do it wilfully."
She leaned back in her chair, and bitter tears came into her eyes.
"Yes," she faltered, "my lesson has been a terrible one; but perhaps
I never should have become sane without it. I have been exacting and
receiving all my life, and yet to-night I feel that I have nothing.
Oh," she exclaimed, with passionate utterance, "I have been such a
_fool_.
Pages:
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448