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Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882

"The Eustace Diamonds"

But he could not speak of it. He
had found himself unable to examine the witness who had been brought to
him, and had honestly told himself that he could not take that charge as
proved. Andy Gowran might have lied. In his heart he believed that Andy
Gowran had lied. The matter was distasteful to him, and he would not touch
it. And yet he knew that the woman did not love him, and he longed to tell
her so.
"As to what we might each gain or each lose in a worldly point of view,
either by marrying or not marrying, I will not say a word. You have rank
and wealth, and therefore I can comfort myself by thinking that if I
dissuade you from this marriage I shall rob you of neither. I acknowledge
that I wish to dissuade you, as I believe that we should not make each
other happy. As however I do consider that I am bound to keep my
engagement to you if you demand that I shall do so, I leave the matter in
your hands for decision. I am, and shall remain, your sincere friend,
"FAWN."
He read the letter and copied it, and gave himself great credit for the
composition. He thought that it was impossible that any woman after
reading it should express a wish to become the wife of the man who wrote
it; and yet--so he believed, no man or woman could find fault with him for
writing it.


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