The Diary of a Man of Fifty by Henry James
page 34 of 50 (68%)
page 34 of 50 (68%)
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"Don't you see," I said, "he can't read the riddle?"
"You yourself," she answered, "said he was incapable of thinking evil. I should be sorry to have him think any evil of _me_." And she looked straight at me--seriously, appealingly--with her beautiful candid brow. I inclined myself, smiling, in a manner which might have meant--"How could that be possible?" "I have a great esteem for him," she went on; "I want him to think well of me. If I am a puzzle to him, do me a little service. Explain me to him." "Explain you, dear lady?" "You are older and wiser than he. Make him understand me." She looked deep into my eyes for a moment, and then she turned away. 26th.--I have written nothing for a good many days, but meanwhile I have been half a dozen times to Casa Salvi. I have seen a good deal also of my young friend--had a good many walks and talks with him. I have proposed to him to come with me to Venice for a fortnight, but he won't listen to the idea of leaving Florence. He is very happy in spite of his doubts, and I confess that in the perception of his happiness I have lived over again my own. This is so much the case that when, the other day, he at last made up his mind to ask me to tell him the wrong that Madame de Salvi had done me, I rather checked his curiosity. I told him |
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