The Secret Power by Marie Corelli
page 18 of 372 (04%)
page 18 of 372 (04%)
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She made him a sweeping curtsy so exquisitely graceful that the action resembled nothing so much as the sway of a lily in a light wind. "Thanks, gentle Knight!--flower of chivalry!" she said--"I see you love me in spite of yourself!" He made a quick stride towards her,--then stopped. "Love you!" he echoed,--then laughed loudly and derisively-"Great God! Love you? YOU? If I did I should be mad! When will you learn the truth of me?--that women are less in my estimation than the insects crawling on a blade of grass or spawning in a stagnant pond?--that they have no power to move me to the smallest pulse of passion or desire?--and that you, of all your sex, seem to my mind the most--" "Hateful?" she suggested, smilingly. "No--the most complete and unmitigated bore!" "Dreadful!" and she made a face at him like that of a naughty child,--then she sank down on the sun-baked turf in an easy half- reclining attitude--"It's certainly much worse to be a bore than to be hated. Hate is quite a live sentiment,--besides it always means, or HAS meant--love! You can't hate anything that is quite indifferent to you, but of course you CAN be bored! YOU are bored by me and I am bored by YOU!--and we are absolutely indifferent to each other! What a comedy it is! Isn't it?" He stood still and sombre, gazing down at the figure resting on the |
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