"I might wish that you resided far beyond this city - yes! - beyond this country, in Vienna, in Venice, in Athens, that our shared excursion might continue indefinitely." He isn't particularly keen on remaining before her house (and still so strange that she has led him here so swiftly and so willingly), not if it is populated with the family members indicated earlier, not if there is the possibility of being caught up in some related awkwardness. He cannot simply dash off, however. First, because that isn't how the game is played; this young woman requires at least a bit of delaying. And then, yes, all right, he is perhaps a bit reluctant to leave, himself. Her company really is heartening, even enlivening, and he is sorry to lose it so soon. Can't be helped, though, and doesn't he already have more than he had expected?

"Still, what is it they say? 'Parting is such sweet sorrow.' Such a sentiment I might mock, yet cannot help but feel, striking deep within my breast. I am a man most wounded, for all of my charades, and I wail internally that I must release you.

"I am calmed only by the knowledge that your image and your voice have worked their way into my memory and soul. You may go, Irma Boissy, but I will hold your recollection as if you remained by my side."