But till I loved you with my whole, whole heart,
Ludovico; and till I found out that I did, I did not know that--that
it would be so,--that I should feel as I feel now."
Ludovico got up from his seat, and began walking up and down the
floor of the little room, sighing deeply, and passing his hand again
and again across his forehead. Presently he sat down again, bringing
his chair so as to front her fully as he sat.
"Paolina," he said, looking sadly into her eyes with a deeper
meaning in his own than she had ever seen there; "your words have
made me very, very miserable! I never in all my life was so unhappy
I am now. You must listen now, my Paolina, to what I am going to
say; and you must think well before you answer me. You see, dearest,
that it is necessary that we should quite understand this matter,
and understand each other. Many men, if they had been told what you
have now told me, would begin to reproach a girl with not loving
them,--to say that it was clear she did not care for them. I will
not do so. I will not pretend to think that you do not love me. I
know that you do, as well as you know that I love you with my whole
heart. And with this knowledge in both our hearts, think what is the
meaning and the end of what you have been saying. You know that this
marriage is inevitable! And the consequence of it is to be that we
two are both to be broken-hearted,--to condemn ourselves to pass
loveless lives,--to give each other up,--see each other no more,--
make all the future a blank to both of us.
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