Listen," and her voice became grave and firm.

"The more I reflect, the more inclined I am to ask you, for heaven's sake, not to destroy our dream.

And then....

Do you want me to be frank, so frank that I shall doubtless seem a monster of selfishness?
Well, personally, I do not wish to spoil the--the--what shall I say ?--the extreme happiness our relation gives me.

I know I explain badly and confusedly, but this is the way it is: I possess you when and how I please, just as, for a long time, I have possessed Byron, Baudelaire, Gerard de Nerval, those I love--" "You mean ... ?" "That I have only to desire them, to desire you, before I go to sleep...." "And ?" "And you would be inferior to my chimera, to the Durtal I adore, whose caresses make my nights delirious!" He looked at her in stupefaction.