“Not entirely.”
“Have you ceased to love Louise—do you love another?”
“Neither; but I confess to you that as I released myself from the trammels which the religious opinions of Louise placed upon my mind and conduct, I felt less respect, and consequently less love for her.”
“Does your respect and love go together?”
“My love for her was almost entirely dependent on respect. She was my superior in education, my teacher in religion.”
“And so she put on airs, did she—played the school-mistress?”
“I should certainly do injustice to her were I to admit the force of your query. She led me back into religious observances less by any thing masculine in her character than by the evident disinterestedness of her conduct, and the conviction that however little I might respect the requirements of religion, I certainly found the results of the outward observances of the rules the best for myself.”
“Do you still love Louise?”
“Can I love her, and live as I have lived for these last six months? I ask seriously.”
“I will answer that when I can ascertain how intimately your self-respect is connected with that respect which you say was the fount of your love for Louise.”