"Court, my life is bound up
in her!"
"So I once thought!" Courtland was only musing out loud.
Tennelly looked at him sadly.
"She almost wrecked my soul!" went on Courtland.
"I know," said Tennelly, in profound sorrow. "She told me."
"She _told you_?"
"Yes, before we were engaged. She told me that she had asked you to give
up preaching, that she could never bear to be a minister's wife. I had
begun to realize what that would mean to you then. I respected your
choice. It was great of you, Court! But you never really loved her, man,
or you could not have given her up!"
Courtland was silent for a moment, then he burst out: "Nelly! It was not
that! You _shall_ know the truth! She asked me to give up _my God_ for
her!"
"_I have no God_," said Tennelly, dully.
A great yearning for his friend filled the heart of Courtland. "Listen,
old man, you _mustn't_ marry her!" he burst out again. "I believe she's
rotten all the way through. You didn't see and hear all last night. She
_can't be_ true! She hasn't it in her! She will be false to you whenever
she takes the whim! She will lead you through hell!"
"You don't understand. I would _go_ through hell to be with her!"
Tennelly's words rang through the room like a knell, and Courtland could
say no more. There was silence in the room. Courtland watched his
friend's haggard face anxiously. There were deep lines of agony about
his mouth and dark circles under his eyes.
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