The revulsion which led him to crush down every feeling as it
sprang up in his heart cost him the intense pain that diffident and
ambitious natures experience in the frequent crises when they are
compelled to stifle their longings. And yet, in spite of himself, he
broke the silence to say in a faltering voice:
"Madame, permit me to give way to one of the strongest emotions of my
life, and own to all that you have made me feel. You set the heart in
me swelling high! I feel within me a longing to make you forget your
mortifications, to devote my life to this, to give you love for all
who ever have given you wounds or hate. But this is a very sudden
outpouring of the heart, nothing can justify it to-day, and I ought
not----"
"Enough, monsieur," said Mme. de Beauseant; "we have both of us gone
too far. By giving you the sad reasons for a refusal which I am
compelled to give, I meant to soften it and not to elicit homage.
Coquetry only suits a happy woman. Believe me, we must remain
strangers to each other. At a later day you will know that ties which
must inevitably be broken ought not to be formed at all."
She sighed lightly, and her brows contracted, but almost immediately
grew clear again.
"How painful it is for a woman to be powerless to follow the man she
loves through all the phases of his life! And if that man loves her
truly, his heart must surely vibrate with pain to the deep trouble in
hers.
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