fear of causing you pain afflicts me more than even the news I am going to tell you.”
She grew pale, felt herself tremble, and stammered out: “What is the matter? Tell me at once.”
He said in sad but resolute tones, with that feigned dejection which we make use of to announce fortunate misfortunes: “I am going to be married.”
She gave the sigh of a woman who is about to faint, a painful sigh from the very depths of her bosom, and then began to choke and gasp without being able to speak.
Seeing that she did not say anything, he continued: “You cannot imagine how much I suffered before coming to this resolution. But I have neither position nor money. I am alone, lost in Paris. I needed beside me someone who above all would be an adviser, a consoler, and a stay. It is a partner, an ally, that I have sought, and that I have found.”