[The Professor by (AKA Charlotte Bronte) Currer Bell]@TWC D-Link bookThe Professor CHAPTER XXII 3/18
Go--they are not passions; you may handle them safely." "I will NOT go was my answer to the sweet temptress.
A man is master of himself to a certain point, but not beyond it.
Could I seek Frances to-night, could I sit with her alone in a quiet room, and address her only in the language of Reason and Affection ?" "No," was the brief, fervent reply of that Love which had conquered and now controlled me. Time seemed to stagnate; the sun would not go down; my watch ticked, but I thought the hands were paralyzed. "What a hot evening!" I cried, throwing open the lattice; for, indeed, I had seldom felt so feverish.
Hearing a step ascending the common stair, I wondered whether the "locataire," now mounting to his apartments, were as unsettled in mind and condition as I was, or whether he lived in the calm of certain resources, and in the freedom of unfettered feelings. What! was he coming in person to solve the problem hardly proposed in inaudible thought? He had actually knocked at the door--at MY door; a smart, prompt rap; and, almost before I could invite him in, he was over the threshold, and had closed the door behind him. "And how are you ?" asked an indifferent, quiet voice, in the English language; while my visitor, without any sort of bustle or introduction, put his hat on the table, and his gloves into his hat, and drawing the only armchair the room afforded a little forward, seated himself tranquilly therein. "Can't you speak ?" he inquired in a few moments, in a tone whose nonchalance seemed to intimate that it was much the same thing whether I answered or not.
The fact is, I found it desirable to have recourse to my good friends "les besicles;" not exactly to ascertain the identity of my visitor--for I already knew him, confound his impudence! but to see how he looked--to get a clear notion of his mien and countenance. I wiped the glasses very deliberately, and put them on quite as deliberately; adjusting them so as not to hurt the bridge of my nose or get entangled in my short tufts of dun hair.
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