Philine To Amiel

Philine to Henri-Frédéric Amiel, tr. Van Wyck Brooks:

My paradise on earth would be to live with you; a hundred years would not be enough. I should have to have eternity. To be with you, morning, evening, every hour; to surround you with my care, to cherish you, to be your secretary, your reader, your sick-nurse, your friend, your sister; to rest at your feet; this would be my dream and my felicity. That is why I am weak at the idea of separating from you, you, my treasure, my joy, my happiness, my soul, my all. (June 6, 1868)

I shall be ambitious for you. I must have a book from you every year. For the rest, I shall live where you wish. We shall travel or remain at home; all places, all dwellings are the same to me provided that we are together and that I live under your roof, provided I share your life and I am sure of not dying alone, of not seeing you die alone. 

My unevenness of temper would disappear the moment I no longer had to leave you. With you improvement, self-perfection would be endless, satiety impossible, discord inconceivable. You will never know my full worth until I am able to express in my life all that I am. You have surpassed even my dreams and I am rather afraid of dying of happiness than of not being happy, in entering your life for always. (June 10, 1868)