Riding to the Moon by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782132479
Publisher: Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd
Published: 2013-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

“How many times has the rose flowered?

Do the white clouds as then scatter themselves?

And behind whose dwelling sets the moon!”

The Marquis thought her voice was very soft, and that the words seemed to speak to her of the World beyond the World.

As if she knew that was what he thought, she remarked,

“I studied with a Chinese philosopher and he taught me that each one of us finds a different meaning in what we read.”

“Come with me,” the Marquis said. “I will show you something that I am sure you will appreciate.”

Indira put the book into its place on the shelf and walked with him to another part of the library.

There in the centre of the wall was a Chinese cabinet of red lacquer raised above a carved and gilt stand.

It was very beautiful and she had meant to examine it after she had looked at the book, knowing that it was something her father would have enjoyed and that she herself would love to own it.

The Marquis unlocked the doors to the cabinet with a gold key and drew from one of the drawers inside an object wrapped in silk.

From it he took out a pottery model of a prancing horse and held it out to Indira.

She gave a little cry of delight.

“A T’ang Dynasty horse!” she exclaimed. “How can you be so lucky as to possess anything so wonderful?”

“It was given to me by my grandfather when I became twenty-one and he had been given it by his father,” the Marquis replied.

Indira touched its glazed surface with the tip of her fingers.

“Only the craftsmen of the T’ang Dynasty,” she said as if she spoke to herself, “could catch the vigour and tension of an animal in motion.”

“That is what I thought myself,” the Marquis agreed.

“My teacher told me,” Indira said, her eyes on the horse, “that the sculptured art of the T’ang is entirely confident of its mastery of the faith and ability to express vitality and strength in the visual form.”

Then, as she spoke, thinking of the horse, she thought that might also apply to the Marquis and a faint flush rose in her cheeks.

Suddenly he was aware that he could read her thoughts and he told himself that he had never had a more sincere or more unexpected compliment.

And yet in a way he could understand that to somebody as perceptive as Indira, the T’ang Dynasty horse she held in her hands with its expression of pride and vigour was undoubtedly what he aimed for in himself.

Indira stroked the arched neck of the horse and then she gave it back to the Marquis with a little sigh, saying,

“Thank you, my Lord. I have never seen a more perfect example of T’ang sculpture. I feel that, although we know it was originally a tomb figure, it actually lives.”

The Marquis took the horse from her, wrapped it again in its silk shroud and replaced it very carefully in the drawer.

“I think we both know from our studies,” he said, “that there is no such thing as death, only life in different spheres.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.