The fact is, I cannot kill the past, and I would not.

It would try me sharply to break the tie connecting us, were it possible to break it.

I am bound to her by gratitude.

She is old now; and were she twice that age, I should retain my feeling for her.

You raise your eyes, Clotilde! Well, when I was much younger I found this lady in desperate ill-fortune, and she honoured me with her confidence.
Young man though I was, I defended her; I stopped at no measure to defend her: against a powerful husband, remember--the most unscrupulous of foes, who sought to rob her of every right she possessed.