But however much you may feel yourself too high, too beautiful,
too superior for me, I can compel you to come down to my level. My
ambition and my maxims have given you a low opinion of me; frankly,
you are mistaken. Men are not worth even what I rate them at, and that
is next to nothing. I shall certainly attain a position which will
gratify your pride. Who will ever love you better, or make you more
absolutely mistress of yourself and of him, than the man who has loved
you now for five years? Though I run the risk of exciting your
suspicions,--for you cannot conceive that any one should renounce an
idolized woman out of excessive love,--I will now prove to you the
unselfishness of my passion. If the marquis loves you, marry him; but
before you do so, make sure of his sincerity. I could not endure to
see you deceived, for I do prefer your happiness to my own. My
resolution may surprise you; lay it to the prudence of a man who is
not so great a fool as to wish to possess a woman against her will. I
blame myself, not you, for the failure of my efforts to win you. I
hoped to do so by submission and devotion, for I have long, as you
well know, tried to make you happy according to my lights; but you
have never in any way rewarded me."
"I have suffered you to be near me," she said, haughtily.
"Add that you regret it.
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