Chapter 26: August

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​​⁠In vain do I stretch out my arms toward her when I awaken in the morning from my weary slumbers. In vain do I seek for her at night in my bed, when some innocent dream has happily deceived me, and placed her near me in the fields, when I have seized her hand and covered it with countless kisses. And when I feel for her in the half confusion of sleep, with the happy sense that she is near, tears fl