You would never understand me, no
matter what I might say. Men are not able to comprehend certain of
our mysteries. . . . A woman would be better able to appreciate the
complexity."
Desnoyers felt that he must know his fate in all its cruelty. She might
speak without fear. He felt strong enough to bear the blow. . . . What
had Laurier said when he found that he was being so tenderly cared for
by Marguerite? . . .
"He does not know who I am. . . . He believes me to be a war-nurse, like
the rest, who pities him seeing him alone and blind with no relatives
to write to him or visit him. . . . At certain times, I have almost
suspected that he guesses the truth. My voice, the touch of my hands
made him shiver at first, as though with an unpleasant sensation. I have
told him that I am a Beigian lady who has lost her loved ones and is
alone in the world. He has told me his life story very sketchily, as
if he desired to forget a hated past. . . . Never one disagreeable word
about his former wife. There are nights when I think that he knows me,
that he takes advantage of his blindness in order to prolong his feigned
ignorance, and that distresses me. I long for him to recover his sight,
for the doctors to save that doubtful eye--and yet at the same time, I
feel afraid. What will he say when he recognizes me? . . . But no; it
is better that he should see, no matter what may result.
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