He had his excuse ready; he showed me a letter from the lady herself, releasing him from his engagement.

A more noble, a more high-minded letter, I never read in my life.

I cried over it--I who have no tears in me for sorrows of my own! If the letter had left him any hope of being forgiven, I would have positively refused to marry him.

But the firmness of it--without anger, without a word of reproach, with heartfelt wishes even for his happiness--the firmness of it, I say, left him no hope.

He appealed to my compassion; he appealed to his love for me.