"No, only as long as we are what we are to each other."
A chill fell upon me. I could not think of a time when she would not be with me, could not face the idea of change.
The light fell across her very bright and waving hair, and caught the tips of her eyelashes and fell all round her exquisite, girlish figure, full of that wonderful grace I had never seen in any other.
"It is a pity to make your love, which otherwise would be such a divine pleasure, a thing of restraint and fetters," I said slowly.
"But it is a mutual obligation in love," she said in a very low tone. "It must be so. You would not wish me to kiss any of the men who come here, would you? They often ask me to."
Her words gave me suddenly such a sense of surprise and shock, it was almost as if she had struck me in the eyes.
"No," I said involuntarily, the instinct within me speaking without thought.
"Well, that is what I say," answered Viola gently. "A great passion has its fetters. I don't see how it can be helped. You can have the promiscuous loves of all the women you meet, or you can have the absolute devotion of one; but I don't see how you can have the two."
My heart beat, and the blood seemed going up to my head, confusing my reason. I felt angry because I knew she was right.
"Well, really it seems that the first might be better if one's life is to be so limited."