Corona did not answer the remark, but held out her hand with a
gentle smile.
"Good-night, dear," she said.
An almost imperceptible expression of pain passed quickly over
Giovanni's face as he touched her fingers with his lips. Then he
left the room without speaking again.
In some respects he was glad that he had induced Corona to express
herself. He had no illusions left, for he knew the worst and
understood that if his wife was ever to love him again there must
be a new wooing. It is not necessary to dwell upon what he felt,
for in the course of the conversation he had not been able to
conceal his feelings. Disappointment had come upon him very
suddenly, and might have been followed by terrible consequences,
had he not foreseen, as in a dream of the future, a possibility of
winning back Corona's love. The position in which they stood with
regard to each other was only possible because they were
exceptional people and had both loved so well that they were
willing to do anything rather than forego the hope of loving
again. Another man would have found it hard to own himself wholly
in the wrong; a woman less generous would have either pretended
successfully that she still loved, or would not have acknowledged
that she suffered so keenly in finding her affection dead.
Pages:
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409