Is it because I
foresee in you the source of endless, incessant pleasure, or because I
find in your soul those precious qualities which make a man forever
love the one woman? I do not know the cause, but this I know--that my
love for you is boundless. I know I can no longer live without you.
Yes, life would be unbearable unless you are ever with me."
"Ever with you!"
"Ah! Marie, will you not understand me?"
"You think to flatter me by the offer of your hand and name," she
said, with apparent haughtiness, but looking fixedly at the marquis as
if to detect his inmost thought. "How do you know you would love me
six months hence? and then what would be my fate? No, a mistress is
the only woman who is sure of a man's heart; duty, law, society, the
interests of children, are poor auxiliaries. If her power lasts it
gives her joys and flatteries which make the trials of life endurable.
But to be your wife and become a drag upon you,--rather than that, I
prefer a passing love and a true one, though death and misery be its
end. Yes, I could be a virtuous mother, a devoted wife; but to keep
those instincts firmly in a woman's soul the man must not marry her in
a rush of passion. Besides, how do I know that you will please me
to-morrow? No, I will not bring evil upon you; I leave Brittany," she
said, observing hesitation in his eyes.
Pages:
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384