19

Suddenly, she began weeping. She wept in silence, without moving. He watched her with the moon in his heart.

When she stopped, he started to speak, but she signalled him to be silent.

‘My love for you makes me so unhappy,’ she said, gently. ‘All these years of yearning have filled me with an unhappy wisdom. May I lie down beside you?’

‘Yes,’ he replied, without knowing why.

She lay down beside him and her lust spread a curious darkness over the bed. He seemed to be afloat in her desire. He seemed to levitate in her passion. He surrendered his senses to her power. Gently, she made him lie down. Then she whispered these words into his ear:

‘I am the mystery that will unlock your life.’