The Flaming Jewel

"Is it not modest of a young girl to say this? Yet, surely all the world which was once en regle, formal, artificial, has been burnt out of our hearts by this so frightful calamity which has overwhelmed the world with fire and blood.

"If ever on earth there was a time when we might venture to express with candour what is hidden within our minds and hearts, it would seem, Monsieur, that the time is now.

"True, I have known you only for one day and one evening. Yet, what happened to the world in that brief space of time -- and to us, Monsieur -- brought us together as though our meeting were but a blessed reunion after the happy intimacy of many years. ... I speak, Monsieur, for myself. May I hope that I speak, also, for you?

"With a heart too full to thank you, and with expectations indescribable -- but with courage, always, for any event, -- I take my leave of you at the foot of this page. Like death -- I trust -- my adieu is not the end, but the beginning. It is not farewell; it is a greeting to him whom I most honour in all the world. ... And would willingly obey if he shall command. And otherwise -- all else that in his mind -- and heart -- he might desire.

"THEODORICA."

* * * * *

It was the most beautiful love-letter any man ever received in all the history of love.

And it had passed the censor.