"You told me so before, and I did forgive you. I forgave you fully, and have never had a thought that wasn't kind."
"I know it," I said. "But you do not trust me--you don't ever come near me, or want to see me."
"You do not know what you are talking of," he answered, turning from me. "I forgive you anything you may have done at any time to give me pain. I will do everything I can to serve you, in every way I can; only do not stir up the past, and let me forget the little of it that I can forget."
I burst into tears, and put my hands before my face.
"What is it?" he said, uneasily. "You need not be troubled about me."
Seeing that I did not stop, he said again, "Tell me: is it that that troubles you?"
I shook my head.
"What is it, then? Something that I do not know about? Pauline, you are unhappy, and yet you've everything in the world to make you happy. I often think, there are not many women have as much."
"The poorest of them are better off than I," I said, without raising my head.
"Then you are ungrateful," he said, "for you have youth, and health, and money, and everybody likes you. You could choose from all the world."