"
I was about to thank him and turn back, but the thought of Yoletta, to
whom each heavy day now seemed a year, oppressed by heart, and I
continued standing motionless, with downcast eyes, wishing, yet fearing,
to speak.
"Why is your mind troubled, my son?" he said kindly.
"Father," I answered, that word which I now ventured to use for the
first time trembling from my lips, "the beauty of the earth is very much
to me, but I cannot help remembering that to Yoletta it is even more,
and the thought takes away all my pleasure. The flowers will fade, and
she will not see them."
"My son, I am glad to hear these words," he answered, somewhat to my
surprise, for I had greatly feared that I had adopted too bold a course.
"For I see now," he continued, "that this seeming indifference, which
gave me some pain, does not proceed from an incapacity on your part to
feel as we do, but from a tender love and compassion--that most precious
of all our emotions, which will serve to draw you closer to us. I have
also thought much of Yoletta during these beautiful days, grieving for
her, and this morning I have allowed her to go out into the hills, so
that during this day, at least, she will be able to share in our
pleasure.
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