I must have a life of my own, outside the walls of a library.

It would be easy to give up all ambition of knowledge, to forget all the joy and sorrow that has been and passed into nothingness; to know only the eternity of a present hour.

Might one not learn more in one instant of unreflecting happiness than by toiling on to a mummied age, only to know in the end the despair of never having lived ?' He again raised his eyes to her face.

It was fixed in a cold, absent gaze; her lips hardened into severity, the pose of her head impressive, noble.

Athel regarded her for several moments; she was revealing to him more of her inner self than he had yet divined.
'What are your thoughts ?' he asked quietly.
She smiled, recovering her wonted passiveness.
'Have you not often much the same troubles ?' 'They arc only for the mind which is strong enough to meet and overcome them,' she replied.
'But look, my mind has given way already! I am imbecile.