bereft her of all
her wits; with me, all her faculties were lost in love; she was indeed
too tender to escape alarms; for the last six months she had been
seeking some way to bind me to her eternally, and God alone knew that
secret; in short, I was her god!"

The women who heard de Marsay seemed offended by seeing themselves so
well acted, for he seconded the words by airs, and sidelong attitudes,
and mincing grimaces which were quite illusory.

"At the very moment when I might have believed these adorable
falsehoods, as I still held her right hand in mine, I said to her, 'When
are you to marry the Duke?'

"The thrust was so direct, my gaze met hers so boldly, and her hand
lay so tightly in mine, that her start, slight as it was, could not
be disguised; her eyes fell before mine, and a faint blush colored
her cheeks.--'The Duke! What do you mean?' she said, affecting great
astonishment.--'I know everything,' replied I; 'and in my opinion, you
should delay no longer; he is rich; he is a duke; but he is more than
devout, he is religious! I am sure, therefore, that you have been
faithful to me, thanks to his scruples. You cannot imagine how urgently
necessary it is that you should compromise him with himself and with
God; short of that you will never bring him to the point.'--'Is this
a dream?' said she, pushing her hair from her forehead, fifteen
years before Malibran, with the gesture which Malibran has made so
famous.--'Come, do not be childish, my angel,' said I, trying to take
her hands; but she folded them before her with a little prudish and
indignant mein.--'Marry him, you have my permission,' said I, replying
to this gesture by using the formal _vous_ instead of _tu_. 'Nay,
better, I beg you to do so.'--'But,' cried she, falling at my knees,
'there is some horrible mistake; I love no one in the world but you; you
may demand any proofs you please.'--'Rise, my dear,' said I, 'and do
me the honor of being truthful.'--'As before God.'--'Do you doubt my
love?'--'No.'--'Nor my fidelity?'--'No.'--'Well, I have committed the
greatest crime,' I went on. 'I have doubted your love and your fidelity.
Between two intoxications I looked calmly about me.'--'Calmly!' sighed
she. 'That is enough, Henri; you no longer love me.'

"She had at once found, you perceive, a loophole for escape. In scenes
like these an adverb is dangerous. But, happily, curiosity made her
add: 'And what did you see? Have I ever spoken of the Duke exce