Always, high above every other purpose, was her unfailing devotion to her husband and his work, and no other task ever interfered with her careful watch over his health and her keen interest in his writing. He appreciated her aid from the bottom of his heart, and in the dedication to his last unfinished novel, _Weir of Hermiston_, he endeavours to express in some degree his profound sense of obligation:
"I saw the rain falling and the rainbow drawn On Lammermuir. Hearkening, I heard again In my precipitous city beaten bells Winnow the keen sea wind. And here afar, Intent on my own race and place I wrote. Take thou the writing; thine it is. For who Burnished the sword, blew on the drowsy coal, Held still the target higher; chary of praise And prodigal of counsel--who but thou? So now in the end; if this the least be good, If any deed be done, if any fire Burn in the imperfect page, the praise be thine."
This was to the critic; to the wife he wrote:
"Trusty, dusky, vivid, true, With eyes of gold and bramble-dew, Steel true and blade straight The great Artificer made my mate.
Honor, anger, valor, fire, A love that life could never tire, Death quench, or evil stir, The mighty Master gave to her.
Teacher, tender comrade, wife, A fellow-farer true through life, Heart whole and soul free, The August Father gave to me."
As the years passed, their comradeship grew closer, and, indeed, their relationship can perhaps be expressed in no better way than to call them "comrades," with all that the word implies. In writing to her he usually called her "My dear fellow," and in speaking often addressed her in the same way. His attachment and admiration for her steadily increased in proportion to his longer acquaintance with her. Once at Vailima they were all playing a game called "Truth," in which each person writes a list of the qualities--courage, humour, beauty, etc.--supposed to be possessed by the others, with the corresponding ratio in numbers, ten being the maximum. Louis put his wife down as ten for beauty. She argued with him that he must be perfectly honest and not complimentary; he looked at her in amazement and said: "I am honest; I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world."