We had returned, little by little, to our starting point. The young women joined us near the rose-garden. A different light had replaced the springtime brilliance that surrounded us. The real morning had just been born, a clear, cold winter morning. I wished to pluck a rose, but they disappeared as I stretched out my hand. Elise took my arm and pressed close to me. ELISE I am cold. I doubted her divinity, I doubted myself, and the enchanted, luminous night I had just lived. My master's last words were disturbing the certainty that he had at first established in my mind. I, who had believed myself a god, became again a man. HE That is the effect of doubt. Then you no longer believe in me? I I believe in you. Instantly, things recovered their magical appearance, and I was happy again. I gently pressed Elise's arm, and she looked at me with tenderness. Meanwhile, the two young friends, who were walking before us, had come upon the steps of the Museum. We followed them. They examined in silence the cold nudity of all those women of stone, but sometimes I heard them laugh. ELISE And so these are your women. I They are not our women. These figures represent our ideal of the goddesses. ELISE Truly, this one is like me. I There are women as beautiful as that among us, but one does not know them. Each one of us thinks he has held in his arms the most beautiful woman in the world; when he reflects, he is no longer very sure of it, for, in the depths of his desire, an image ceaselessly forms, and ceaselessly vanishes, whose beauty no created thing could equal. ELISE So reality always deceives you. How do you manage to be happy? I We have desire. I had spoken like a man, and not like one whose mistress is an immortal. Elise seemed indifferent to the obscure sorrow that darkened my words. My nature now was double. When I thought of my master, of Elise, of the hours passed in the garden, I felt that I was caressed and upheld by warm waves of joy; when I considered the things of earth, I was cold, and I was sorrowful. Elise left me once more to go and join her companions. My master called me. He was seated at the entrance to the hall, and was looking at nothing. HE I have still a few words to say to you, and these are the most important. You must forget our conversation. I Master, it is impossible. It is part of myself, it has entered into my flesh, into my blood, into my bones. HE Ah, well, you shall know then that I could have told you the exact opposite, and that that also would have been the truth. Another god may descend and speak to you and give you other teaching. In which will you put your trust? I Master, you disturb me. Can such a miracle be repeated? HE When one believes in a miracle, it may become a daily occurrence. You see, you would do better to forget. I I shall not forget. HE