' Then, if he loves, he loves in spirit and in truth.
I look forward to the time," she went on calmly, "when
the best that I can give you or you can give me will ride
upon a glance."
"I used to feel more drawn to the ascetic achievement
and its rewards," he remarked thoughtfully, "than I do
now."
"If I were not a Presbyterian in Canada," she told him,
"I would be a Buddhist in Burma. But I have inherited
the Shorter Catechism; I must remain without the Law."
Finlay smiled. "They are the simple," he said. "Our Law
makes wise the simple."
Advena looked for a moment into the fire. She was listening,
with admiration, to her heart; she would not be led to
consider esoteric contrasts of East and West.
"Isn't there something that appeals to you," she said,
"in the thought of just leaving it, all unsaid and all
undone, a dear and tender projection upon the future that
faded--a lovely thing we turned away from, until one day
it was no longer there?"
"Charming," he said, averting his eyes so that she should
not see the hunger in them. "Charming--literature!"
She smiled and sighed, and he wrenched his mind to the
consideration of the Buddhism of Browning. She followed
him obediently, but the lines they wanted did not come
easily; they were compelled to search and verify.
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