Page:Afterglow; pastels of Greek Egypt, 69 B.C. (IA afterglowpastels00buck).pdf/62

58 shocked into action and a search for greater things by the faithlessness of the mortal woman held most dear! Even a woman taken as the plaything of a day, may do this great but thankless thing.

The girl Aalea was, to me, a promise and a hope. I saw her often and was welcome at her father's house. I seemed to find in her that warmth and gentleness which blend so gratefully with the colder nature of a man. And I, as many another one had done, felt that life held no greater end than to perfect that blending.

One day, when we were alone for an instant in the garden, she asked me if I had never loved. I knew not what to answer. I could have loved her easily, and that was my intention. But one would not speak of it so, to such a girl; so I smiled at her and told her I was sure I would, some day. Alas, I was but a youth and, in the flush of my own continence, knew not