She drew a short, sharp breath, but she did not move.
"Mademoiselle," said Steinmetz earnestly, "I am an old man, and in my time I have dabbled pretty deeply in trouble.

But taking it all around, even my life has had its compensations.

And I have seen lives which, taken as a mere mortal existence, without looking to the hereafter at all, have been quite worth the living.

There is much happiness in life to make up for the rest.

But that happiness must be firmly held.