"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.[1] 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."[2]
"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?"
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