404 LOUISE DE LA VALLIEEE. Eaoul attempted to smile. "No!" said the young girl, with a profound conviction, "no, no; you will not do me so foul a wrong as to disguise your feelings before me now! You loved me; you were sure of your affections for me; you did not deceive yourself ; you did not lie to your own heart — while I — I — — " And pale as death, her arms thrown despairingly above her head, she fell upon her knees. "While you," said Eaoul, "you told me you loved me^ and yet you loved another." "Alas! yes," cried the poor girl; "alas! yes. I do love another; and that other — oh! for Heaven's sake, let me say it, Eaoul, for it is my only excuse — that other I love better than my own life, better than my own soul even. Forgive my fault, or punish my treason, Eaoul. I came here in no way to defend myself, but merely to say to you: 'You know what it is to love I' in that case, I love! I love to that de- gree that I would give my life, my very soul, to the man I love. If he should ever cease to love me, I shall die of grief and despair, unless Heaven comes to my assistance, unless Heaven does show pity upon me. Eaoul, I came here to submit myself to your will, whatever it might be — to die, if it were your wish I should die. Kill me, then, Eaoul! if in your heart you believe I deserve death!" "Take care, mademoiselle," said Eaoul; "the woman who invites death is one who has nothing but her heart's blood to offer to her deceived and betrayed lover." "You are right," she said. Eaoul uttered a deep sigh, as he exclaimed: "And you love without being able to forget?" "I love without a wish to forget, without a wish ever to love any one else," replied La A^alliere. "Very well," said Eaoul. "You have said to me, in fact, all you had to say; all I could possibly wish to know. And now, mademoiselle, it is I who ask your forgiveness, for it is I who have almost been an obstacle in your life; I, too, who have been wrong, for, in deceiving myself, I helped to deceive you." "Oh!" said La Valliere, "I do not ask you so much as that, Eaoul." "I only am to blame, mademoiselle," continued Eaoul; "better informed than yourself of the difficulties of this life, I should have enlightened you. I ought not to have relied upon uncertainty; I ought to have extracted an answer from your heart, while I hardly even sought an
