Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/106

110 voluntarily from my lips, accompanied by a bitter sigh. At first she rallied me on my folly; but when she realized, from the sadness with which I continued to gaze at her, what pain it was costing me to reconcile myself to a change so opposed to my honor and my wishes, she withdrew alone to her dressing-room. Following her a moment afterwards, I found her sitting there, bathed in tears. I asked her why she was weeping.

"Can you ask?" was her reply. "Do you suppose I care to live, if all that my life can accomplish now is to make you look sad-faced and grave? You have been here for an hour, and not a single kiss have you given me yet, while you have been submitting to my caresses all this time with the majestic indifference of the Grand Turk in his seraglio."

"Listen to me, Manon," answered I, as I embraced her, "I cannot help letting you see that my heart is very, very heavy. I will say nothing at present about the agonies of fear into which you threw me by your unlooked-for flight; nor about your cruelty in deserting me without a word of consolation, after spending the whole night away from my arms. The charm of your presence can make me forget all this, and more than this. But do you imag-