It was to suppress strife, to prevent bloodshed. I knew your
temper, and I feared for your life; yet I told my father; I told him
all: and it was by his advice that I have maintained throughout the
silence which I, perhaps too hastily, at first adopted.'
'My own dear May! spare me! I cannot mark a tear from you without a
pang. How I came to know this you wonder. It was the delirium of that
person who should not have played so proud a part in this affair, and
who is yet our friend; it was his delirium that betrayed all. In the
madness of his excited brain he reacted the frightful scene, declared
the outrage, and again avenged it. Yet, believe me, I am not tempted by
any petty feeling of showing I am not ignorant of what is considered
a secret to declare all this. I know, I feel your silence was for the
best; that it was prompted by sweet and holy feelings for my sake.
Believe me, my dear cousin, if anything could increase the infinite
affection with which I love you, it would be the consciousness that at
all times, whenever my image crosses your mind, it is to muse for my
benefit, or to extenuate my errors.
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