, made for caresses, and he thought: "She is
better than the other, certainly." He did not doubt his success, it
seemed to him that he had only to stretch out his hand and take her, as
one gathers a fruit.

He said, resolutely: "I did not come to see you, because it was better
so."

She asked, without understanding: "What? Why?"

"No, not at all."

"Because I am in love with you; oh! only a little, and I do not want to
be head over ears."

She seemed neither astonished, nor shocked, nor flattered; she went on
smiling the same indifferent smile, and replied with the same
tranquillity: "Oh! you can come all the same. No one is in love with me
long."

He was surprised, more by the tone than by the words, and asked: "Why
not?"

"Because it is useless. I let this be understood at once. If you had
told me of your fear before, I should have reassured you, and invited
you, on the contrary, to come as often as possible."

He exclaimed, in a pathetic tone: "Can we command our feelings?"

She turned towards him: "My dear friend, for me a man in love is struck
off the list of the living. He becomes idiotic, and not only idiotic,
but dangerous. I cease all intimate relations with people who are in
love with me, or who pretend to be so--because they bore me, in the
first place; and, secondly, because they are as much objects of
suspicion to me as a mad dog, which may have a fit of biting. I
therefore put them into a kind of moral quarantine until their illness
is over. Do not forget this. I know very well that in your case love is
only a species of appetite, while with me it would be, on the contrary,
a kind of--of--of communion of souls, which does not enter into a man's
religion. You understand its letter, and its spirit. But look me well in
the face." She no longer smiled. Her face was calm and cold, and she
continued, emphatically: "I will never, never be your mistress; you
understand. It is therefore absolutely useless, it would even be
hurtful, for you to persist in this desire. And now that the operation
is over, will you agree to be friends--good friends--real friends, I
mean, without any mental reservation."

He had understood that any attempt would be useless in face of this
irrevocable sentence. He made up his mind at once, frankly, and,
delighted at being able to secure this ally in the battle of life, held
out both hands, saying: "I am yours, madame, as you will."

She read the sincerity of his intention i