“She gave her consent. For the remainder of the voyage we read the Bible together. “Immediately on our arrival in London I accompanied my fellow passenger to Mr. B——’s, and told him what the love of this young girl meant to me, and with what clear insight it inspired me. “Mr. B—— gazed for a long time on her with kindliness. “‘You may marry,’ he said at length. ‘The Apostle Paul has declared that the husband is sanctified by the wife, and the wife by the husband. But let your union resemble those held in honour amongst Christians in the primitive Church! Let it remain purely spiritual, and see that the angel’s sword lies between you in your bed. Go, now, and remain humble and secluded, and let not the world hear your name.’ “I married Annie Fraser, and I need scarcely tell you that we complied rigidly with the condition imposed on us by Mr. B——. For four years I delighted in that brotherly and sisterly union. “By grace of simple little Annie Fraser I advanced in the knowledge of God. There was nothing now that could cause us suffering. “Annie was ill, and her strength declined, and we repeated joyfully in union, ‘May the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven!’ “After four years of this life together, there came a day, a Christmas day, when Mr. B—— summoned me to him. “‘Leslie Wood,’ he said, ‘I have put you to the proof for your soul’s sake. But it would be to fall into papistical error to believe that the union of His creatures after the flesh is displeasing to God. Twice He blessed both animals and mankind in pairs, in the earthly Paradise, and in the ark of Noah. Go, and live henceforth with your wife, Annie Fraser, as a husband with his wife.’ “When I arrived home, Annie, my well-loved Annie, was dead.... “I own my weakness. It was with my lips and not with my heart that I pronounced the words, ‘O God, Thy will be done!’ and thinking upon Mr. B——’s tardy removal of the restrictions upon our love, I felt my mouth full of bitterness, and as it were ashes in my heart. “So it was with a forlorn soul that I knelt down at the foot of the bed where, beneath a cross of roses, silent and white and with the faint violets of death on her cheeks, my Annie slept her last sleep. “O thou of little faith! thou didst bid her adieu and remain a whole week plunged in barren sorrow that approached despair. How much rather shouldst thou, on the contrary, have rejoiced, both in body and soul!... “On the night of the eighth day, as I was weeping, my forehead bowed upon the cold and empty bed, I had a sudden conviction that the beloved was near me in my chamber. “Nor was I deceived. When I raised my head I saw Annie, smiling and radiant, holding out her arms to me. But how find words for what remains to tell? How express the ineffable? And is it permissible to reveal such mysteries of love? “Clearly when Mr. B—— said to me, ‘Live with Annie as a husband with his wife!’ he knew that love is stronger than death.