"Are you forgetting what you were to me in Rome?..."
"I was everything to you: love, happiness, intense happiness.... There was the most intense harmony between us: I shall never forget it.... But I was not your wife."
"Not my wife!"
"No, I was your mistress.... I was unfaithful to him.... Oh, don't repulse me! Pity me, pity me!"
He had unconsciously made a gesture that frightened her.
"Let me stay like this, leaning against you. May I? I am so tired and I feel restful, leaning against you like this, my darling. My darling, my darling ... things will never be as they were. What are we to do?"
"I don't know," he said, in despair. "I want to marry you as soon as may be. You won't consent."
"I can't. I mustn't."
"Then I don't know what to do or say."
"Don't be angry. Don't leave me. Help me, do, do! I love you, I love you, I love you!"