"
"The day will be o'er-lonely in this home, my father."
"Nay, Marina, let love suffice; so shall we be always together! Shall I
not go to thee? And thou wilt come to me, bringing thy new interests and
holding thy dear heart ever pure and loyal to Venice, and thy home, and
thy God--not forgetting. For thou hast chosen with thy whole heart, my
daughter?" since she had not answered. "Thou dost not fear thyself?"
"Dearest father," she had said, hiding her face in his tender embrace,
"all of my heart which is not thine is wholly his--only my happiness is
too great."
"Nay, daughter, since it is of God's own sending; take all the joy and
grieve not."
"Only at leaving thee."
"I would not keep thee here, to leave thee mourning and alone when my
days are closed."
"Father!"
"Not to sadden thee, my child, but to show thee that life is linked to
life--God wills it so. Thou and I are bound to that which has been and
to that which is to be. We do not stand alone to choose. The sweetness
of our life together should make it easier for me to yield thee to the
fuller life which calleth thee.
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