same by him. I presume that, to many of my friends, he will
be nothing, and they will not understand that I should have life in
common with him. But I do not think he will care;--he has not the
slightest tinge of self-love. He has, throughout our intercourse, been
used to my having many such ties. He has no wish to be anything to
persons with whom he does not feel spontaneously bound, and when I am
occupied, is happy in himself. But some of my friends and my family,
who will see him in the details of practical life, cannot fail to
prize the purity and simple strength of his character; and, should
he continue to love me as he has done, his companionship will be an
inestimable blessing to me. I say _if_, because all human affections
are frail, and I have experienced too great revulsions in my own, not
to know it. Yet I feel great confidence in the permanence of his love.
It has been unblemished so far, under many trials; especially as I
have been more desponding and unreasonable, in many ways, than I ever
was before, and more so, I hope, than I ever shall be again. But at
all such times, he never had a thought except to sustain and cheer me.
He is capable of the sacred love,--the love passing that of woman. He
showed it to his father, to Rome, to me. Now he loves his child in the
same way. I think he will be an excellent father, though he could not
speculate about it, nor, indeed, about anything.

Our meeting was singular,--fateful, I may say. Very soon he offered me
his hand through life, but I never dreamed I should take it. I loved
him, and felt very unhappy to leave him; but the connection seemed so
every way unfit, I did not hesitate a moment. He, however, thought
I should return to him, as I did. I acted upon a strong impulse, and
could not analyze at all what passed in my mind. I neither rejoice
nor grieve;--for bad or for good, I acted out my character Had I never
connected myself with any one, my path was clear; now it is all
hid; but, in that case, my development must have been partial. As
to marriage, I think the intercourse of heart and mind may be fully
enjoyed without entering into this partnership of daily life. Still,
I do not find it burdensome. The friction that I have seen mar so much
the domestic happiness of others does not occur with us, or, at least,
has not occurred. Then, there is the pleasure of always being at hand
to help one another.

Still, the great novelty, the immense gain, to me, is my