For a moment she seemed to forget my presence as she turned to Sydney, and cried, "My beloved, who through the dark valley has been beside me; who with the unselfishness of divine compassion has forgiven cruelty and unfaithfulness, thinking not of the worthlessness of the one beloved but only feeling her weakness; whatsoever I am is thine, without thee there can be no joy, no perfect completion, no future life, no eternal glory!" But Sydney stopped her. "Dearest," he said, "it is enough. The past is gone; through the weakness that once you had, came that strength which has been our salvation. Through selfishness has come self-renunciation; through sorrow, more exceeding joy; through doubt and perplexity, eternal hope and trust. If your growth has been dependent upon me, so has my growth on you; each soul acting and reacting on the other from without. And still shall it ever be, save that in future the influence shall be internal, not external, and the darkness shall have passed away." For a few moments there was silence; then Vera turned to me and said, "Would that you too could know this great joy." "I have not lived to deserve it," I replied, "yet it gives me the greatest happiness to see you here." "Deserved it," she replied, "and how do I deserve it? When first the truth became known to me in vision after vision of my past, I thought I should have died of shame and sorrow. Before that I believed that I was more or less worthy of Alan’s love, but then it seemed impossible." She buried her face in her hands. "Hush!" Sydney said. "Let us speak of brighter things. No spirit can look upon the past without wonder and shame. Let us thank God that when its lessons are over, these things shall be wiped out and all things become new." "Should you mind," I said, addressing Vera, "letting me know something of your life since we last met?" "There is not much," she replied, "that I may tell, but I will do my best. After leaving you we travelled together, seeing many places of interest on the way; for you must remember that it was impossible for me to quit the body, and Alan would not leave me. At length we came to the plateau of which you have already heard, and I was admitted through the secret passage to the enclosure. On arriving there I was taken alone into the beautiful temple and dedicated to the service of the Almighty Father. For eight years I lived with the priestess, who educated me in the knowledge which comes to us through the spiritual sense. But beside what she taught me I saw Alan often and learned many things from him. These times were the most delightful, for though always happy, a new strange joy filled my heart whenever I was brought into his presence. I felt somehow that I belonged to him, and when he left there was a void which nothing else could fill.