Buddha preaches, Ayesha."

"Aye, I remember the doctrines of that wise man well, who without doubt
had found a key to the gate of Truth, one key only, for, mark thou,
Allan, there are many. Yet, man being man must know desires, since
without them, robbed of ambitions, strivings, hopes, fears, aye and of
life itself, the race must die, which is not the will of the Lord of
Life who needs a nursery for his servant's souls, wherein his swords of
Good and Ill shall shape them to his pattern. So it comes about, Allan,
that what we think the worst is oft the best for us, and with that
knowledge, if we are wise, let us assuage our bitterness and wipe away
our tears."

"I have often thought that," I said.

"I doubt it not, Allan, since though it has pleased me to make a jest
of thee, I know that thou hast thy share of wisdom, such little share as
thou canst gather in thy few short years. I know, too, that thy heart is
good and aspires high, and Friend--well, I find in thee a friend indeed,
as I think not for the first time, nor certainly for the last. Mark,
Allan, what I say, not a lover, but a _friend_, which is higher far.
For when passion dies with the passing of the flesh, if there be no
friendship what will remain save certain memories that, mayhap, are well
forgot? Aye, how would those lovers meet elsewhere who were never more
than lovers? With weariness, I hold, as they stared into each other's
empty soul, or even with disgust.

"Therefore the wise will seek to turn those with whom Fate mates them
into friends, since otherwise soon they will be lost for aye. More, if
they are wiser still, having made them friends, they will suffer them
to find lovers where they will. Good maxims, are they not? Yet hard to
follow, or so, perchance, thou thinkest them--as I do."

She grew silent and brooded a while, resting her chin upon her hand and
staring down the hall. Thus the aspect of her face was different from
any that I had seen it wear. No longer had it the allure of Aphrodite or
the majesty of Hera; rather might it have been that of Athene herself.
So wise it seemed, so calm, so full of experience and of foresight, that
almost it frightened me.

What was this woman's true story, I wondered, what her real self, and
what the sum of her gathered knowledge? Perhaps it was accident, or
perhaps, again, she guessed my mind. At any rate her next words seemed
in some sense an answer to these speculations. Lifting her eyes she