Читать книгу The End of the House of Alard онлайн

97 страница из 99

"Darling, I'm as sure as I can ever be with any human being. But one never can be quite sure, that's the terrible thing. And oh, it would be so ghastly if you changed—or I changed—and I had left the unchanging place for you."

Stella rose quietly to her feet.

"I understand now, Peter."

For a moment she stood motionless and silent, her mouth set, her eyes shining out beyond him. He wondered if she was praying.

"Stella—don't hate me."

"I don't hate you—I love you. But I quite understand that you don't love me. Your last words have shown me that. And your not loving me explains it all. If you really loved me all these difficulties, all these ambitions would be like—like chaff. But you don't love me, at least not much; and I don't want you, if you only love me a little. I'm relieved in a way—I think you'd be doing a dreadful thing if you gave me up while you really loved me. But you don't really love me, so you're quite right to give me up and stand by your family and Starvecrow. Oh, I know you love me enough to have married me if everything had been easy . . . ."