I AM listening to you, you see!" And she threw her hands
out for a moment and let them drop with a gesture in which there was
just the slightest expression of appealing weakness.
"Well, as far as saying goes, I have said everything," said Newman. "I
believe in you, without restriction, and I think all the good of you
that it is possible to think of a human creature. I firmly believe that
in marrying me you will be SAFE. As I said just now," he went on with
a smile, "I have no bad ways. I can DO so much for you. And if you are
afraid that I am not what you have been accustomed to, not refined
and delicate and punctilious, you may easily carry that too far. I AM
delicate! You shall see!"
Madame de Cintre walked some distance away, and paused before a great
plant, an azalea, which was flourishing in a porcelain tub before her
window. She plucked off one of the flowers and, twisting it in her
fingers, retraced her steps. Then she sat down in silence, and her
attitude seemed to be a consent that Newman should say more.
"Why should you say it is impossible you should marry?" he continued.
"The only thing that could make it really impossible would be your being
already married. Is it because you have been unhappy in marriage? That
is all the more reason! Is it because your family exert a pressure upon
you, interfere with you, annoy you? That is still another reason; you
ought to be perfectly free, and marriage will make you so.
Pages:
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192