She looked up at him now, quite earnestly, almost with the
tears coming, and said, "Oh, no, Adam! how could you think so?"
"I couldn't bear you not to feel as much a friend to me as I do to you,"
said Adam. "And you don't know the value I set on the very thought of
you, Dinah. That was what I meant yesterday, when I said I'd be content
for you to go, if you thought right. I meant, the thought of you was
worth so much to me, I should feel I ought to be thankful, and not
grumble, if you see right to go away. You know I do mind parting with
you, Dinah?"
"Yes, dear friend," said Dinah, trembling, but trying to speak calmly,
"I know you have a brother's heart towards me, and we shall often be
with one another in spirit; but at this season I am in heaviness through
manifold temptations. You must not mark me. I feel called to leave my
kindred for a while; but it is a trial--the flesh is weak."
Adam saw that it pained her to be obliged to answer.
"I hurt you by talking about it, Dinah," he said. "I'll say no more.
Let's see if Seth's ready with breakfast now."
That is a simple scene, reader. But it is almost certain that you, too,
have been in love--perhaps, even, more than once, though you may not
choose to say so to all your feminine friends.
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