With this statement Rosalie stopped and looked around her, frightened by
her own frankness, which she now recognized as unwise and fatal to the
last degree.
The unlooked-for and dignified reserve of her injured husband, together
with his ghastly paleness disturbed her, and her inquietude grew to
painful anxiety as he maintained silence. At length he said "I have
learned to love you truly and passionately, my wife, and now you show me
how you have returned the affection which my heart bestowed upon you.
You are right when you accuse me of having laid too much stress upon vain
trifles. For that very fault I have been most severely punished, for had
I wooed you in woollen, instead of in velvet, I should never have had the
misfortune to be bound to a woman like you. Nor was it love that led me
to you, but the miserable ambition to bring a nobleman's daughter into my
burgher home. So we both deceived each other, and now if you wish to
return whence I took you--you may leave my home unhindered."
The young wife buried her face in her hands and answered: "No, no, life
is too miserable and poverty-stricken at home and I have suffered too
much in the long struggle to keep up appearances.
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