the King of Navarre, who was to conduct the Queen of Spain:

Monsieur de Nemours, went to the Viscount, and made an ingenuous



confession to him of all he had concealed hitherto, except Madam

de Cleves's sentiments, which he would not seem to know.



The Viscount received what he told him with a great deal of

pleasure, and assured him, that though he was not acquainted with



his sentiments on that subject, he had often thought, since Madam

de Cleves had been a widow, that she was the only lady that



deserved him. Monsieur de Nemours entreated him to give him an

opportunity of speaking to her, and learning what disposition she



was in.

The Viscount proposed to carry him to her house, but the Duke was



of opinion she would be shocked at it, because as yet she saw

nobody; so that they agreed, it would be better for the Viscount



to ask her to come to him, under some pretence, and for the Duke

to come to them by a private staircase, that he might not be



observed. Accordingly this was executed; Madam de Cleves came,

the Viscount went to receive her, and led her into a great closet



at the end of his apartment; some time after Monsieur de Nemours

came in, as by chance: Madam de Cleves was in great surprise to



see him; she blushed and endeavoured to hide it; the Viscount at

first spoke of indifferent matters, and then went out, as if he



had some orders to give, telling Madam de Cleves he must desire

her to entertain the Duke in his stead, and that he would return



immediately.

It is impossible to express the sentiments of Monsieur de



Nemours, and Madam de Cleves, when they saw themselves alone, and

at liberty to speak to one another, as they had never been



before: they continued silent a while; at length, said Monsieur

de Nemours, "Can you, Madam, pardon the Viscount for giving me



an opportunity of seeing you, and speaking to you, an opportunity

which you have always so cruelly denied me?" "I ought not to



pardon him," replied she, "for having forgot the condition I am

in, and to what he exposes my reputation." Having spoke these



words, she would have gone away; but Monsieur de Nemours stopping

her, "Fear not, Madam," said he; "you have nothing to



apprehend; nobody knows I am here; hear me, Madam, hear me, if

not out of goodness, yet at least for your own sake, and to free



yourself from the extravagancies which a passion I am no longer

master of will infallibly hurry me into." Madam de Cleves now



first yielded to the inclination she had for the Duke de Nemours,

and beholding him with eyes full of softness and charms, "But



what can you hope for," says she, "from the complaisance you

desire of me? You will perhaps repent that you have obtained it,



and I shall certainly repent that I have granted it. You deserve

a happier fortune than you have hitherto had, or than you can



have for the future, unless you seek it elsewhere." "I,

Madam," said he, "seek happiness anywhere else? Or is there



any happiness for me, but in your love? Though I never spoke of

it before, I cannot believe, Madam, that you are not acquainted



with my passion, or that you do not know it to be the greatest

and most sincere that ever was; what trials has it suffered in



things you are a stranger to? What trials have you put it to by

your rigour?"



"Since you are desirous I should open myself to you," answered

Madam de Cleves, "I'll comply with your desire, and I'll do it



with a sincerity that is rarely to be met with in persons of my

sex: I shall not tell you that I have not observed your passion



for me; perhaps you would not believe me if I should tell you so;

I confesstherefore to you, not only that I have observed it, but



that I have observed it in such lights as you yourself could wish

it might appear to me in." "And if you have seen my passion,



Madam," said he, "is it possible for you not to have been moved

by it? And may I venture to ask, if it has made no impression on



your heart?" "You should have judged of that from my

conduct," replied she; "but I should be glad to know what you



thought of it." "I ought to be in a happier condition,"

replied he, "to venture to inform you; my fortune would



contradict what I should say; all I can tell you, Madam, is that

I heartily wished you had not acknowledged to Monsieur de Cleves



what you concealed from me, and that you had concealed from him

what you made appear to me." "How came you to discover,"



replied she blushing, "that I acknowledged anything to Monsieur

de Cleves?" "I learned it from yourself, Madam," replied he;

• constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)


• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)


• monsieur [mə´sjə:] n.先生 (初中英语单词)


• wholly [´həul-li] ad.完全，十足；统统 (初中英语单词)


• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)


• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• abroad [ə´brɔ:d] ad.海外；到处；广泛 (初中英语单词)


• wilderness [´wildənis] n.荒地，荒野 (初中英语单词)


• remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)


• violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)


• beloved [bi´lʌvd] a.为….所爱的 n.爱人 (初中英语单词)


• imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)


• criminal [´kriminəl] a.犯罪的 n.罪犯 (初中英语单词)


• conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)


• apartment [ə´pɑ:tmənt] n.一套房间 (初中英语单词)


• hastily [´heistili] ad.急速地；草率地 (初中英语单词)


• satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中英语单词)


• unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)


• uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn] a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• submit [səb´mit] vt.使服从；使忍受 (初中英语单词)


• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)


• learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)


• disposition [,dispə´ziʃən] n.安排；性情；倾向 (初中英语单词)


• accordingly [ə´kɔ:diŋli] ad.因此；从而；依照 (初中英语单词)


• entertain [,entə´tein] vt.招待；娱乐；使高兴 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• goodness [´gudnis] n.优良；美德；精华 (初中英语单词)


• anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)


• sincere [sin´siə] a.真挚的；直率的 (初中英语单词)


• rarely [´reəli] ad.难得；非凡地 (初中英语单词)


• confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)


• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)


• venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)


• impression [im´preʃən] n.印刷；印象；效果 (初中英语单词)


• divert [dai´və:t] vt.转移注意力；消遣 (高中英语单词)


• distinguished [di´stiŋgwiʃt] a.卓越的，著名的 (高中英语单词)


• discourse [´diskɔ:s] n.论文；演说；说教 (高中英语单词)


• disorder [dis´ɔ:də] n.杂乱 vt.扰乱 (高中英语单词)


• tempest [´tempist] n.暴风雨 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• eagerness [´i:gənis] n.渴望；热忱 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


• inclination [,inkli´neiʃən] n.倾斜；爱好；天资 (高中英语单词)


• uneasy [ʌn´i:zi] a.不安的；不自在的 (高中英语单词)


• withdrew [wið´dru:] withdraw的过去式 (高中英语单词)


• hardship [´hɑ:dʃip] n.受苦，吃苦；苦难 (高中英语单词)


• leisure [´leʒə] n.空闲；悠闲；安定 (高中英语单词)


• communicate [kə´mju:nikeit] vi.通讯；传达；传播 (高中英语单词)


• hitherto [,hiðə´tu:] ad.至今，迄今 (高中英语单词)


• pretence [pri´tens] n.假装；托词；无理要求 (高中英语单词)


• indifferent [in´difrənt] a.不关心的；中立的 (高中英语单词)


• repent [ri´pent] v.后悔；悔改；悔悟 (高中英语单词)


• heartily [´hɑ:tili] ad.衷心地；亲切地 (高中英语单词)


• learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)


• amiable [´eimiəbəl] a.亲切的，温和的 (英语四级单词)


• sincerity [sin´seriti] n.真诚；诚意 (英语四级单词)


• extinguish [ik´stiŋgwiʃ] vt.熄灭；压制(抑) (英语四级单词)


• resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)


• staircase [´steəkeis] n.楼梯 =stairway (英语四级单词)


• cruelly [´kruəli] ad.残酷地；极，非常 (英语四级单词)


• desirous [di´zaiərəs] a.渴望的；想往的 (英语四级单词)


• comply [kəm´plai] vi.照做 (英语四级单词)


• applied [ə´plaid] a.实用的，应用的 (英语六级单词)


• pensive [´pensiv] a.沉思的；忧郁的 (英语六级单词)


• likelihood [´laiklihud] n.可能，相似性 (英语六级单词)


• transient [´trænziənt, ´trænʃənt] a.短暂的；无常的 (英语六级单词)


• affliction [ə´flikʃən] n.痛苦，苦恼；折磨 (英语六级单词)


• abandoned [ə´bændənd] a.被抛弃的；无约束的 (英语六级单词)


• pernicious [pə´niʃəs] a.有害的；有毒的；致命的 (英语六级单词)


• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• softness [´sɔftnis] n.柔软；柔和；温柔 (英语六级单词)