1. The more I think of you, the more I
2. Love you; I cannot see how any one could
3. Hate you. You have always been to me an
4. honest, faithful friend, and I hope my love is not an
5. Object of contempt. It is true that I once said
6. I would never marry, but that was before
7. I loved you. That assertion was of course
8. uttered in a bragging manner,but it wasn't
9. a lie, and I do not know why I made it. If I
10. could even pluck up enough courage to
11. offer you my hand I know very well you
12 would be surprised, and I doubt if you
13 would accept it. I do not think I would like to
14 listen to a refusal from your lips and
15 thus my whole life would be miserable. To die
16 without ever expressing my love for you
17 would be preferable to that. If you write to me
18 I shall be happy, but if you do not
19 I shall be miserable and gloomy, your letters
20 are a source of pleasure and a failure to get them
21 always make me feel like committing suicide.