Perhaps to your
detriment. But that is no consolation. I have forced myself to be your
sister, in order to possess you a little, ah so little. Let me at last
be more to you, Robert. Thiel tells you that you must love no longer.
But you may still allow yourself to be loved. Robert, suffer yourself to
be loved. That is all I ask. Let me be your wife, let me prepare a home
for you. I shall be envied, I shall be proud of you, and repay you with
a fidelity and tenderness which no woman can now give you. Consider,
Robert, to me you are still the young Greek god of eighteen, whom I loved
a generation ago so that it nearly cost my life. Is there any other
woman who sees you with such eyes? Speak, Robert."
Robert did speak. He spoke with quiet friendliness. He was certainly
very grateful to her for her feelings. He returned them with all his
heart, as she knew. But why change a relation in which both had been so
comfortable for a generation. It was a delightful emotion to know that,
while outwardly free, they were secretly united by warm friendship. This
bond would not oppress.
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