At the pond, under a willow, Bourmin found Maria Gavrilovna, dressed in white, looking like a real heroine of a novel. After the first questions, Maria Gavrilovna purposely refrained from sustaining the conversation, intending in this manner to create a mutual embarrassment, from which it was possible to free oneself only by an instant and decisive explanation. That was, in fact, what happened. Bourmin, feeling the embarrassment of his position, said that he had long sought an opportunity to reveal his heart to her, and requested a moment’s attention from her. Maria Gavrilovna closed the book and cast down her eyes as a sign of assent. “I love you,” said Bourmin. “I love you passionately.” (Maria Gavrilovna blushed and inclined her head even lower.) “I have behaved imprudently in yielding to the sweet pleasure of seeing and hearing you every day.” (Maria Gavrilovna recalled the first letter of St. Preux.[1]) “It is too late now to resist my fate: the mere recollection of you, your lovely, incomparable image, shall be the torment and consolation of my life. It is still left to me, however, to execute a weighty responsibility, to reveal to you a terrible secret which will raise between us an insurmountable barrier.” “It has always existed,” interrupted Maria Gavrilovna, in an excited manner. “I could never be your wife.” “I know,” he answered quietly. “I know that you once loved; and that he died, and that you had mourned for three years.... My good, adorable Maria Gavrilovna! Please don’t deprive me of my last consolation: the thought that you would have consented to make my happiness if----Please, not a word--for God’s sake, not a word! You torture me. Yes, I know it, that you would have been willing to become mine, but I--I am a most unhappy creature.... I am already married!” Maria Gavrilovna looked at him in amazement. “Yes, I am married,” continued Bourmin; “and this is the fourth year of my marriage, and I don’t know--who my wife is, where she is, or whether I shall ever see her.” “What are you saying?” exclaimed Maria Gavrilovna. “How strange! But continue--I also have something to tell--do me the kindness, continue!”