Page:The Way of a Virgin.djvu/190

Rh "Nay. All is over. I love thee still; probably I shall love thee always; but I long for thee to go, and by so doing, thou wilt give me proof of thy love."

"This is dreadful; thou amazest me. Thou dost seem in perfect health; thou art grown even more beautiful; art made for the worship of the sweetest of gods; 'tis beyond my powers of comprehension how, with a temperament like thine, thou canst live in continual abstinence."

"Alas! lacking the reality we console ourselves with make-belief. I will not conceal from thee that I love my young boarder. 'Tis an innocent passion, and keepeth my mind calm. Her caresses quench the flame which would otherwise kill me."

"And doth not thy conscience suffer?" "I feel no distress in the matter."

"But thou dost know 'tis a sin?"

"I confess it."

"And what sayeth the confessor?"

"Naught. He absolveth me, and I am happy."

"And doth thy pretty boarder confess also?"

"Assuredly; but she telleth not the father of a matter which she doth not to believe a sin."

"I wonder that the confessor hath not taught her, for that species of instruction is a great pleasure."

"Our confessor is a wise old man."

"I shall leave thee, then, without a single kiss?"