But beyond this rather colorless certainty I possessed no assurance.

I thought I had read a deeper meaning in her eyes, enough to yield a flash of hope, but nothing more substantial.

And now--now even this must be rubbed out.

She was not the kind to ever compromise with duty, nor to pretend.

No love for me, even if it had already begun to blossom in her secret heart, would make her disloyal to sacred vows.