Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.

The sentence elevates trust from a practical necessity to a profound human pleasure: the “delight” is not in what the trusted person does, says, or provides, but in their sheer nearness. It suggests that deep trust quiets vigilance and self-protection, allowing a rare ease—one can be fully present without performing or defending. The line also implies a moral hierarchy of joys: companionship grounded in utter reliability surpasses more sensational pleasures. In MacDonald’s broader ethical and spiritual outlook, such trust can be read as an image of ideal friendship and, by extension, of the soul’s rest in a perfectly faithful love.