g to
repeat:

"She will not disturb the silence of my life; and her beauty will adorn
it marvellously."

He had a way of speaking which I liked. He knew how to refine his words
by means of his expression. If they were very positive, his voice would
hesitate; if too grave, a faint smile would lighten their sombreness. If
he spoke ironically, his boyish eyes softened any touch of bitterness in
the wisdom of the satirist.

I did not like to think that the success of his wooing would mean the
end of his labours. Rose would never become the independent, perfect
woman of my dreams, capable of preserving her personal life in the midst
of love and in all circumstances. Alas, my ambition had soared too
high! Henceforth, I must wish nothing better for her than this purely
ornamental fate.

"Do you love her?" I asked.

"I was taken captive at once by her beauty," he answered. "She objected
that this sudden love must be an illusion; and I tried for a time to
think the same. But, before long, suffering taught me the sincerity of
my love. I dare not say whether it is senseless or right or usual; but,
as long as a feeling gives us nothing but joy, we are unable to
recognise it, we doubt it, we smile at it as a light and fleeting thing.
Let anguish come, however, with tears and dread; and it is as though the
seal of reality were placed on our heart. Then we believe in our love."

I repeated, pensively and happily:

"Do you really love her?"

"Yes, I can say so honestly."

He hesitated a little and, speaking very slowly, as though picking his
words from amid his memories, said:

"When we are sincere, we are bound to confess that the love which
encircles all the movements of our body follows the movements of its
strength or its weakness equally. It has its hours of exasperation, it
is sometimes a tide that rises and floods everything: the past, the
present, the future, the will, the spirit, the flesh. Then all becomes
peaceful; the waves subside and we think that we love no more. We do
love, however, but with a more detached joy. We have stepped outside
love, as it were, and we contemplate its extent."

My breath came quickly and my hands, clasped on the table, were pressed
close together. My heart was bursting with gladness for my Roseline. He
saw my emotion and questioned me with deeper interest.

I replied without hesitation:

"I am happy in this love which comes to Rose so simply and candidly."

He pressed my hand