text:  And why not? If to divulge the secret were an act of justice why should I hesitate to do it on account of the incumbent with whom I had broken off all intercourse for ever? Ah did I in truth believe that our separation had been final? Or did I harbour perhaps against reason and conviction a hope a thought of future reconciliation a shadowy yet not weak belief that all might yet end happily and that fortune still might favour love! With such faint hope and such belief I must have bribed myself to silence for I left my couch resolved to keep my secret close