Page:Marquis de Sade - Adelaide of Brunswick.djvu/141

 after having spread the rumor that he was dead, had suddenly changed his mind and released him on condition that he look for the Baroness of Neuhaus through all of Germany and to bring her to him as soon as he found her. But he, having no desire to carry out such a project, had come to live with his sister. He had written the margrave resigning his positions with him and asked him to try to find somebody else who could perform that task which was so repugnant to him.

"And it was just through a bit of luck," he added, "that I had some business to attend to in a nearby town and it was the short trip which has made it possible for me to meet you again and to renew the hope of persuading you to be mine."

"My dear Baron," said Adelaide, "sit here for a moment beside me and listen carefully."

Bathilda wished to retire, but her mistress kept her there.

"I am placed in a position which obliges me to state some things clearly and to explain to you just why I must act in a certain way. I owe you my life, my dear Dourlach, I know it and without this life what could I offer to a lover who already possesses my heart? Nothing without doubt. And this reasoning which I make to myself, you can make also and I can find nothing to object to. This life which you have saved belongs to you, take it; but if you are generous enough to let me have it, you must realize that it can never be linked to yours in any way except through friendship and gratitude. Some indissoluble oaths on one hand and some bonds on the other, have set up some insurmountable barriers between us."

"Ah, Milady," cried Dourlach with an accent of despair, "you are married and you have a lover; I see it all."

"I have more. I have in this moment a friend, and it is you, Dourlach, you are a friend to whom I would like to sacrifice everything … but I cannot. The oaths I have made represent all the happiness I can ever hope for; the bonds represent the torments of my life, but duty keeps me from breaking them. You may require of me anything which I can accord you without crime, and I assure you that I will try to fulfill my obligations to you."

"Nothing, Milady," cried out Dourlach in anguish, "and I can assure you that I am the most unhappy of men."