She watched him. Blond warm boy, with eyes tender and virgin: afraid of the brusque world. Boy with heart beating a measure beyond the reach of your eyes!
—Shall I learn now?
What Leon promised? what the dolorous years
Failed to fulfill?
Shall I learn now from you?...
He has stayed and been kind. Soon he will go away,
Forgetting Thelma. Will you leave me knowledge?
—O I do not understand ...
Why I have wanted, why I have wanted ...
Why I have fallen and fallen, looking for God!
You, Boy, won’t you go away
And leave me Knowledge?...
Her hands were upon the table. His hands were near her hands upon the table. Their eyes joined. He rested upon the yearning of her eyes. His mind was empty.
—Go away. Yes. Before I have lost!
Go, before your staying slays me, Boy.
Go—leave me Knowledge!
He did not stir. His eyes lay within her own as in a womb, resting omnipotent, knowing no act. She held him.
—Go. Reveal to me!
The bell rang.
—Go!
The bell rang.
The bell drove an iron finger between his eyes and her own. His eyes stirred. The bell rang.