Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and the Chevalier Des Grieux.djvu/44

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THE STORY OF MANON LESCAUT.
43

for deceiving iiie ? But thret* liouis a^^-o slu» had lavislied hei" tenderest caresses upon me, and had welcomed mine with rapturous deh|2rht. I knew my own heart no better than I knew hers. *'No! No! I said a^^hi ; *'Manon cannot be false ; it is impossible I She knows too well that I live only for her — that I worship her; these, surely, can- not be reasons for depriving me of her love ! " Argue as I would, however, I could not stifle my un- easiness at Monsieur de B 's visit and his stealthy de- parture. I called to mind, also, Manon's little purchases, which seemed to me beyond our present means. They were ceitainly suggestive of the libera hty of a new lover. And then, again, the confident manner in which she had alluded to lesources which were unknown to me ? I found it difficult to interpret all these enigmas in as favorable a sense as my heart desired. On the other hand, I considered that she had scarcely been out of my sight since we had come to Paris. In all our occupations, our w^alks, and our amusements, we were invaiiably together. (Ireat Heavens ! a moment's separation would have l)een an intolerable affliction for us. It had become a necessity of our lives to be constantly interchanging assumnces of our nuitual love: to forego