She said so to herself over and over again.

Love him! of course she loved him, and would cherish him as her lord and husband to the last day of her life, the last gasp of her breath.
But still, as sleep came upon her eyelids, she saw in her memory the bright flash of that other lover's countenance, when he first astonished her with the avowal of his love, as he walked beside her under the elms, with his horse following at his heels..