He told me most honestly in the very beginning just how it was.

He always said he would never fetter me by a word; and, once when I forgot myself for a moment, and threw myself into his very arms, he only kissed my forehead as if I were his sister, and put me away from him almost with a reproof.

No, indeed! he is the very soul of honor.

It is I who choose to love him with all my soul and all my strength.

Why should not a woman devote her life to a man without being his wife, if she chooses, and if he so needs her?
It is just as sacred and just as holy a bond as the other, and holier, too; for it is more unselfish.