34
Confessions of an
"Whom ought you to love first of all?"
"The good God."
"And next?"
"My neighbour."
"And lastly?"
"Myself."
"And you try to obey these precepts, my daughter?"
"I try."
"Good! Consider Gerard as yourself. Place him in the list with yourself; first, the good God? second, your neighbour: third, Gerard and yourself."
"But, Father ———"
"Not a bit of it! You must look at the matter in that way. One of these days he and you will come and ask me to bind you together, and thereafter you will be as one flesh. You see that if you place Gerard any higher you will cheat either God or your neighbour of their due; and if he loves you, my daughter, he will be contented with the company in which I put him."
"But, surely, Gerard is my neighbour?"
