Beyond a doubt
you have loved and been beloved devotedly; but pride, ill asserted
arrogance of soul, has rendered you miserable. We speak not
knowingly, but from supposition grounded upon what we do know. He
who loved you was humble-humble in station, but noble in personal
qualities, such as a woman may well worship in man, bravery,
manliness and stern and noble beauty of person. We say he loved you,
and we doubt not you must have loved him; for how could it be
otherwise? Pride caused you to repulse him. Now, senorita, know that
he whom you thus repulsed was more than worthy of you; that,
although he might have espoused one infinitely your superior in rank
and wealth in Madrid, since his arrival here, he had no heart to
give, and still remained true to you! Know that by his daring
bravery, his manliness, his modest bearing, and above all, his
clear-sighted and brilliant mental capacity he has challenged our
own high admiration; but you, alas! must turn in scorn your proud
lip upon him! Think not we have these facts from him, or that he has
reflected in the least upon you; he is far too delicate for such
conduct. No, it is an instinctive sense of the position of
circumstances that has led to this letter and this plain language.
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