It loves the vaguely beheld and unrealized ideal. It dares believe
that the loved is not all that she ever seemed. It is in virtue of this
that love loves on. And it was in virtue of this, that Wolkenlicht loved
Lilith yet more after he discovered what a grave of misery her unbelief
was digging for her within her own soul. For her sake he would bear
anything--bear even with calmness the torments of his own love; he would
stay on, hoping and hoping.--The text, that we know not what a day may
bring forth, is just as true of good things as of evil things; and out of
Time's womb the facts must come.
"But with the birth of this resolution to endure, his suffering abated;
his face grew more calm; his love, no less earnest, was less imperious;
and he did not look up so often from his work when Lilith was present. The
master could see that his pupil was more at ease, and that he was making
rapid progress in his art. This did not suit his designs, and he would
betake himself to his further schemes.
"For this purpose he proceeded first to simulate a friendship for
Wolkenlicht, the manifestations of which he gradually increased, until,
after a day or two, he asked him to drink wine with him in the evening.
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