"Louis," I went on, as kindly as I could, "it rests entirely with you
whether this marriage of convenience becomes one to which I can give
my whole heart. The favor I am about to ask from you will demand
unselfishness on your part, far nobler than the servitude to which a
man's love, when sincere, is supposed to reduce him. The question is,
Can you rise to the height of friendship such as I understand it?
"Life gives us but one friend, and I wish to be yours. Friendship is
the bond between a pair of kindred souls, united in their strength,
and yet independent. Let us be friends and comrades to bear jointly
the burden of life. Leave me absolutely free. I would put no hindrance
in the way of your inspiring me with a love similar to your own; but I
am determined to be yours only of my own free gift. Create in me the
wish to give up my freedom, and at once I lay it at your feet.
"Infuse with passion, then, if you will, this friendship, and let the
voice of love disturb its calm. On my part I will do what I can to
bring my feelings into accord with yours. One thing, above all, I
would beg of you. Spare me the annoyances to which the strangeness of
our mutual position might give rise to our relations with others. I am
neither whimsical nor prudish, and should be sorry to get that
reputation; but I feel sure that I can trust to your honor when I ask
you to keep up the outward appearance of wedded life."
Never, dear, have I seen a man so happy as my proposal made Louis. The
blaze of joy which kindled in his eyes dried up the tears.
"Do not fancy," I concluded, "that I ask this from any wish to be
eccentric. It is the great desire I have for your respect which
prompts my request. If you owe the crown of your love merely to the
legal and religious ceremony, what gratitude could you feel to me
later for a gift in which my goodwill counted for nothing? If during
the time that I remained indifferent to you (yielding only a passive
obedience, such as my mother has just been urging on me) a child were
born to us, do you suppose that I could feel towards it as I would
towards one born of our common love? A passionate love may not be
necessary in marriage, but, at least, you will admit that there should
be no repugnance.