***Far from growing indistinct at the approach of marriage, this dull anguish of mine increased, on the contrary, as I began to appreciate better the delicate purity of Therese. But all at once it was dissipated, at the sudden appeal of my desire; and arguments crowded to my brain to justify this volte-face. What should I gain by deferring an act which alone could give us access to fleshly delights? Was I going to succumb to a morbid fit of sentimentality?—make myself ridiculous in my own ...