“We shall not be long, dearest of women! Keep warm and cosy by the fire, and you will not care for the ‘significance’ of yourself so long as you are loved! That is all some women ask for,--love.” “Is it not enough?” said Diana, conscious of her own “asking” in that direction. “Enough? No!--not half or quarter enough! Not for some women or some men--they demand more than this (and they have a right to demand more) out of the infinite riches of the Universe, Love,--or what is generally accepted under that name, is a mere temporary physical attraction between two persons of opposite sex, which lessens with time as it is bound to lessen because of the higher claims made on the soul,--a painful thing to realise!--but we must not shiver away from truth like a child shivering away from its first dip in the sea, or be afraid of it. Lovers forget lovers, friends forget friends, husbands forget wives and _vice versa_,--the closest ties are constantly severed----” “You are wrong, Féodor--we do _not_ forget!” said Madame Dimitrius, with tender reproach in her accents. “I do not forget your father--he is dear to me as lover and husband still. And whether God shall please to send my soul to heaven or to hell, I could never forget my love for _you!_” “Beloved, I know!--I feel all you say--but you are an exception to the majority--and we will not talk personalities! I cannot”--here he laughed and kissed her hand again--“I cannot have my theories upset by a _petite Maman_!” He left the room then and Diana followed him. Once in the library he shut the door and locked it. “Now you spoke of something in your translations that seemed to call for my attention,” he said. “I am ready to hear what it is.” Diana went to the table desk where she habitually worked, and took up some pages of manuscript, neatly fastened together in readable form. “It is a curious subject,” she said. “In the Assyrian originals it seems to have been called ‘The problem of the Fourth, Sixth and Seventh, culminating in the Eighth.’ Whether the Latin rendering truly follows the ancient script, it is, of course, impossible to say,--but while deciphering the Latin, I came to the conclusion that the Fourth, Sixth and Seventh were named in the problem as ‘rays’ or ‘tones’ of light, and the proposed culmination of the Eighth----” “Stop!” exclaimed Dimitrius, in a strained, eager voice. “Give me your papers!--let me see!”