I
am, perhaps, the ideal of that which you would not be. But no man will
say that my lot is not enviable."
"Are you happy?" Laodice asked in a low voice.
"Are you?" the Greek returned. "No," she went on after a pause. "A
woman has the less happy part in life, though the greater one, if she
will permit herself to make it great. It was not her purpose on earth
to be happy, but to make happy."
"You take issue with Philadelphus in that," Laodice interposed. "It is
his preachment to me that all that is expected of all mankind is to be
happy."
"He is a man, arguing from the man's view. It is inevitable law that
one must be gladder than another. Woman has the greater capacity for
suffering, hence her feeling for the suffering of others is the
quicker to respond. And some creature of the gods must be
compassionate, else creation long since had perished from the earth."
Laodice made no answer. This was new philosophy to her, who had been
taught only to aspire at great sacrifice as long as God gave her
strength. She could not know that this strange and purposeful creed
might some day appeal to her beyond her strength.
"Yet," Amaryllis added presently in a brighter tone, "there is much
that is sweet in the life of a woman."
Laodice played with the tassels of her girdle and did not look up.
What was all this to lead to?
"I have spoken to Philadelphus about you," the Greek continued.
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