CHAPTER xxxvni

IN the days that followed -^liana's going, it seemed
to Christophe as though some firm hand had
been placed on the helm of his existence, while the will
that lay hidden behind that hand was trying to capture
and then to bind him until he had served its inscrutable
ends. And there came the conviction that JBliana,
she also, had been compelled to serve, that no creature
could ever exist in vain or completely escape from this
law of service.
Very ruthlessly she had shattered his love, very
crudely torn to shreds his illusions, and now he no
longer even desired this girl — he had nothing to give
her but pity. And yet he knew that through her he
had come to a wider and deeper understanding of
humanity; nay more, had glimpsed truths that all but
transcended his limited vision. It was surely the Life
itself that he had glimpsed, the very essence and
purpose of God from which flowed all seen and
unseen things; all tireless endeavour, all creative
mind, all sublime inspiration, all courage, all beauty.
And greatly bewildered he thought he perceived
that evil was only the shadow of glory, of a glory not
yet completely fulfilled but whose splendour would
ultimately cast no shadow, so that sinner and saint
would become one indeed, and that one the expression
of God's fulfilment
'Even now they are not two but one/ he mused,
'an eternal oneness — it is always the same.3
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