Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/260

. Are you jealous? Do you suspect that he is deceiving you?

. Suspect? Not at all; he is not deceiving me. I made up my mind before I married, exactly what I would do when the time came—and I proved it.

. It is foolish to make up one's mind in advance or to map out a course of action in life. We become wedded unconsciously to the attitude which we expect to assume, and the event often happens because we expected it. Never decide anything in advance. Life takes us by surprise, and determines the future without our advice, and life is always wise and always just. We may be deceived and betrayed, it may even seem that our lives have been wrecked completely, yet if we can truly say with a clear conscience that it was undeserved, we are happier by far than those who brought misfortune upon us. The only sorrow for which there is no consolation is the sorrow we have brought upon ourselves.

. She is perfectly right. Remember what she says. Gracious! It is time to dress. The guests will think that they are attending a funeral.

. No, it was foolish of me to complain. I was very silly. I ought to be—and I intend to be—happy.

. I see no reason why not.

. Why did you say anything to papa? I did not wish him to know.

. Am I closer to you than your own father?

. Certainly. You understand how I feel. A man's point of view is entirely different. A love-affair means so little in their lives, and they put so little heart in it, that they imagine that it means even less to us. But they are mistaken. I can understand how a great love, an irresistible passion, might sweep everything before it, until the