The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1920-02-12

Z
openly praise il. do not believe a word
Of il. But it serves you to gain'time
TO take pleasure in our torment
Come. madam, do not shake your little
head in that mannerl Let a man tell
you the truth who for the first time
has felt the electric shock ! have
never loved, although the contrary
may have been inferred repeatedly,
from certain vague appearances. The
emotion that | now confess 10 you so
candidly, is already mastering me. II
the thing were 10 proceed differently
and were 10 fall in love with You by
degrees, you would be right in having
no mercy, because | should be worth
less. How did this love spring up? /
do not know. The novelty of the sit
uation was such as to inspire me rath-
er with difidence. Nothing OF the
kind. If | must confess a suspicion |
will say that loved you when you
put your arm under mine. In that
gentle pressure which seemed to say:
save mel | felt another which said:
love me! | heard your prayer, obey
ed your command; because an electric
current suddenly mastered me. And
Immediately, however discomposed, ]
used every endeavor 10 be useful to
you. What if not my heart, told me
then that you were a gentlewoman! !
Yes, gentlewoman; this conviction
permeated my whole being at that
contact, and did not wait to know
your name TO obey you, as ! do not
ask it now, before | declare to you
that | love you. And now you may
laugh at me, laugh at me to your
hearts content!
Why should laugh? asked the I'M
known in a soft voice. A frank state
ment deserves as frank an answer.
What would you say of woman, who
to the first word Of a man she meets
for the first time, should answer: ] be-
lieve you, and should accept his love
with enthsuiasm
| would say that she is woman
superior TO all others: or; to steal a.
phrase from the divine Petrarch, "she
who alone TO me seems woman"
No, Signor Fenoglio, you would not
say it, or saying it you would not think
it--if this woman does not yet know
this man.
But neither did |, madam, neither
did / know you. and yet 49,.
A very fine reason that! the lady in
terrupted. A very great risk you were
running indeedl And it is possible
that your judgment does not show you
the grave, the profound difference that
exists between a mans and woman's
heart? What sacrifice does a man
make in loving and saying so, he the
temptor, he is in danger Of losing at
the game hardly, as much rs he puts at
stakel We poor women, when we
love (which is truer Of US than Of you,
and with a greater violence Of sudden
passion than you may believel
we pay for our errors with our
own self-contempt. You no longer
speak? You no longer shake your
head, with the sign Of unbelief? You
see, after all, that you were not right,
and frank as / am, / want to confess
il to you. ! said a moment ago: II
this woman does not yet know this
man and | was wrong, for | already
know you, although only for the past
more thoroughly than if our
dated years back. You
are a man and gentleman, and | have
seen you put to the test. BE assured
that | know how to do you justice
We poor women cannot talk as freely
as you do Both by law of nature
and by the bonds Of education we are
the weak sex; we have no better weap-
NN Aof bAf AtAtNeN AiAan ttsttfff fNAA
nal reserve.
The weak sex; Roberto added, we
are the weak sex,
When you love US, Of course. But
this condition Of illness is Of such
short duration with youl Gonzales
ence is always quite rapid. and you al
ways regain your lost strength.
Roberto Fenoglio was silent. That
was the most eloquent answer he could
have given TIE Unknown lady She
was right, generally speaking. and al
though Be- was not wrong IN his indi-
yidual case, that WIS not the moment
3 compel her ,o acknowledge the fact
Therefore. he being silent, there was
b moments pause in The dialogue
3o5-rtol with bowed head. was count
nr ths little pieces of marble ia BE
1c f10r: tie lady was looking 81
3ohs7. rk him 20 say sma-
bins fark
Ana Thus gaming as h5e. ari sae
Sra ert there Inadvertently enter