"As any other man might be,—or any woman. He is so still, and with all my heart I hope that this may be untrue."
"It is false as the Devil. It must be false. Can you think of the man,—his sweetness, the gentle nature of him, his open, free speech, and courage, and believe that he would go behind his enemy and knock his brains out in the dark? I can conceive it of myself, that I should do it, much easier than of him."
"Oswald says it is false."
"But he says it as partly believing that it is true. If it be true I will hang myself. There will be nothing left among men or women fit to live for. You think it shameful that I should love him."
"I have not said so."
"But you do."
"I think there is cause for shame in your confessing it."
"I do confess it."
"You ask me, and press me, and because we have loved one another so well I must answer you. If a woman,—a married woman,—be oppressed by such a feeling, she should lay it down at the bottom of her heart, out of sight, never mentioning it, even to herself."
"You talk of the heart as though we could control it."