"Oh! I am wrong, no doubt; for, after all, the fact that no one has ever loved me doesn't prove that they may not have loved others."
"Do you say that no one has ever loved you, monsieur?"
"Never really, madame."
"Are you quite sure of that?"
"Only too sure, alas!"
"But, monsieur, have you, who think that no one has ever really loved you, have you yourself ever loved in that way?"
Adhémar did not reply for some seconds, then murmured:
"Why, I think so——"
"Ah! you are not perfectly sure!"
"When one is inclined to love passionately, madame, if he sees that his passion is not reciprocated, don't you think that that should suffice to lessen his ardor?"