w that from the moment in which you had manifested an
opposite spirit all would have been ended between us. You promised to
bestow on me the friendly affection of a brother. For I have no friend
but yourself upon earth, who am neglected and forgotten by my father,
harassed and persecuted by my mother-in-law, and left to the sole
companionship of a paralyzed and speechless old man, whose withered hand
can no longer press mine, and who can speak to me with the eye alone,
although there still lingers in his heart the warmest tenderness for
his poor grandchild. Oh, how bitter a fate is mine, to serve either as
a victim or an enemy to all who are stronger than myself, while my only
friend and supporter is a living corpse! Indeed, indeed, Maximilian, I
am very miserable, and if you love me it must be out of pity."

"Valentine," replied the young man, deeply affected, "I will not say
you are all I love in the world, for I dearly prize my sister and
brother-in-law; but my affection for them is calm and tranquil, in no
manner resembling what I feel for you. When I think of you my heart
beats fast, the blood burns in my veins, and I can hardly breathe; but
I solemnly promise you to restrain all this ardor, this fervor and
intensity of feeling, until you yourself shall require me to render
them available in serving or assisting you. M. Franz is not expected to
return home for a year to come, I am told; in that time many favorable
and unforeseen chances may befriend us. Let us, then, hope for the best;
hope is so sweet a comforter. Meanwhile, Valentine, while reproaching me
with selfishness, think a little what you have been to me--the beautiful
but cold resemblance of a marble Venus. What promise of future
reward have you made me for all the submission and obedience I have
evinced?--none whatever. What granted me?--scarcely more. You tell me of
M. Franz d'Epinay, your betrothed lover, and you shrink from the idea of
being his wife; but tell me, Valentine, is there no other sorrow in your
heart? You see me devoted to you, body and soul, my life and each warm
drop that circles round my heart are consecrated to your service; you
know full well that my existence is bound up in yours--that were I to
lose you I would not outlive the hour of such crushing misery; yet you
speak with calmness of the prospect of your being the wife of another!
Oh, Valentine, were I in your place, and did I feel conscious, as you
do, of being worshipped, ador