Quotes About Separation

She wished he had stayed half a world away for the rest of his life.

My life came to an end the day I left you, he whispered fiercely. I have lived in hell since then. I do not need to die, Becky. Nothing could be worse than what I have lived. If you wished to see me punished, know that your wish has been granted a thousandfold.

He must not know that this separation would be more painful to her than it would be to him.

She was achingly conscious, as he escorted her as usual to the door of her room, that this was the last time she would be with him like this.

And he had felt the need to see her again, to put a definite end to something that had never ended.

One thing at least was beginning to clarify itself in Elizabeth's mind. Their separation had not been brought about by his lack of love or by cruelty. Somehow there had been a massive misunderstanding. For six years each of them had believed the other at fault. Each had carried the pain and the bitterness all that time.

They had told each other their stories, yet had failed to understand what had happened. And they had parted. It was all over. But why should that be? They had loved each other passionately six years before, had defied their families in order to marry, and had grieved for each other ever since. They loved and wanted each other now. Why should they be apart forever? Had they not suffered enough?

But she had to try. Her own love for Robert was a strong pain that she would have to bear for the rest of her life if she must. But if there was a chance that he loved her too and that their separation had not been of their own making, then she felt compelled to try to make possible a reconciliation. She had to put every ounce of effort into the attempt.

Doubtless it will be a relief to be free of me and my troubles.

Go now, he said harshly, before I forget that there can never be anything but enmity between you and me.

Soon she would know him only in memory. Soon she would lose him.

He rode away from her with the deepest regret.

I do not know what happened, Beth, she cried, but I do know it must have been something dreadful. You are both such dear people, and I know something quite extraordinary must have driven you apart.

My life came to an end the day I left you. I have lived in hell since then. Were those the feelings of a man who did not know what deep emotion was?

Could she ever have imagined in those few golden months that one day they would be in a room together, separated as if by a thousand miles?

But she did not want to break away. This moment was the whole of life. Tomorrow he would be gone.

Perhaps it was the knowledge that she was beyond him that had made his love of her such a lasting, painful thing.

She was engulfed by mingled panic and indecision, and by a terrible depression. She would never see him again. He would come riding out of the stable in a moment and disappear down the driveway, and she would never see him again. Ever.

He would see her for perhaps five minutes the next morning, when he would be tongue-tied with all there was to say. And then the journey back to London. And Cassandra. And his wedding. And the rest of his life. And never Allie again. Never again.

She had always known deep down that she had never recovered fully from his defection. She had loved him for so long that he had become part of her very being.

Please believe me, darling, it will break my heart in two to leave you here. But I cannot take you. I must go quickly. Please understand.

Had he done the right thing to let her go without a word or a letter? Was he right to leave it so, to disappear from her life?

He had vaulted into the saddle and ridden down the driveway away from the sea and the cliffs, and away from her, without a backward glance. She had watched him, an ache in her heart, until a line of trees finally hid him from view.

Tomorrow she would have been free of him. She would have been on her way back to the life she had chosen for herself. And he had been unable to let her go.