Page:The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (emended first edition), Volume 2.djvu/370

360 upwards of three years, I have endured a perfect martyrdom. From the anguish of suppressed emotions, intense and fruitless longings, silent sorrow, crushed hopes, and trampled affections,—I have suffered more than I can tell, or you imagine—and you were the cause of it—and not, altogether, the innocent cause. My youth is wasting away; my prospects are darkened; my life is a desolate blank; I have no rest day or night: I am become a burden to myself and others;—and you might save me by a word—a glance, and will not do it—Is this right?"

"In the first place, I don't believe you," answered I: "in the second, if you will be such a fool, I can't hinder it."

"If you affect," replied he earnestly, "to regard as folly, the best, the strongest, the most godlike impulses of our nature,—I don't believe you—I know you are not the heartless, icy being you pretend to be—you had a heart once, and you gave it to your husband. When you found