to respond to it; I regret that I cannot; I esteem you as much as one
can esteem another; but in me I find an obstacle to loving you. You
know that a heart cannot be given to two people, and I feel that
Clitandre has taken entire possession of mine. I know that he has much
less merit than you, that I have not fit discrimination for the choice
of a husband, and that with your many talents yon ought to please me.
I see that I am wrong, but I cannot help it; and all the power that
reason has over me is to make me angry with myself for such blindness.

TRI. The gift of your hand, to which I am allowed to aspire, will give
me the heart possessed by Clitandre; for by a thousand tender cares I
have reason to hope that I shall succeed in making myself loved.

HEN. No; my heart is bound to its first love, and cannot be touched by
your cares and attention. I explain myself plainly with you, and my
confession ought in no way to hurt your feelings. The love which
springs up in the heart is not, as you know, the effect of merit, but
is partly decided by caprice; and oftentimes, when some one pleases
us, we can barely find the reason. If choice and wisdom guided love,
all the tenderness of my heart would be for you; but love is not thus
guided. Leave me, I pray, to my blindness; and do not profit by the
violence which, for your sake, is imposed on my obedience. A man of
honour will owe nothing to the power which parents have over us; he
feels a repugnance to exact a self-sacrifice from her he loves, and
will not obtain a heart by force. Do not encourage my mother to
exercise, for your sake, the absolute power she has over me. Give up
your love for me, and carry to another the homage of a heart so
precious as yours.

TRI. For this heart to satisfy you, you must impose upon it laws it