SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, in e-mails obtained by The State newspaper on Wednesday, called his affair with a woman from Buenos Aires, Argentina a “hopelessly impossible situation of love.”

Hours earlier, Sanford publicly acknowledged he had a long affair with another woman. Later, the state’s First Lady, Jenny Sanford, said she would be willing to forgive her husband “for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time.”

“Two, mutual feelings … You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that['s] so fitting with your beauty,” Governor Sanford said in one of the e-mails. Although BNO News was not immediately able to get a comment from his office, the newspaper reported that his office did not dispute the authenticity of the e-mails.

The newspaper further said it received the e-mails in December 2008, but it was unclear why it was not released until today. A former spokesman for the governor, while talking to Fox News before the e-mails were released, said a local television station knew about the affair but decided to not report it.

“I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night’s light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details,” Sanford continued.

Sanford went on to say that “we are in a hopelessly - or as you put it impossible - or how about combine and simply say hopelessly impossible situation of love.” The newspaper named the woman as Maria and, when a reporter attempted to interview her, she refused to talk.

The e-mails suggested the two were involved in a strong and deep relationship, which had been ongoing for at least several months. “How in the world this lightening strike snuck up on us I am still not quite sure,” he wrote.

Sanford continued further and suggested it was the first time he had an affair. “I feel a little vulnerable because this is ground I have never, certainly never, covered before - so if you have pearls of wisdom of how we figure all this out, please let me know,” the governor said.

In his news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Sanford said he was “deeply sorry” and apologized to his family, friends and the state. Sanford mysteriously left last week while not informing his staff, causing a lot of outrage in the state.

“In the meantime, please sleep soundly knowing that despite the best efforts of my head, my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an ever deeper connection to your soul,” Sanford wrote in the personal e-mails.

The newspaper also released a short e-mail from Sanford’s secret lover. The e-mail suggest that Maria left her husband to have a relationship with Sanford. “As I told you, I shouldn’t have done this trip but I would have felt worst [worse] if I wouldn’t have come because it was too over the date. He is a very nice guy, great heart, but unfortunately I am not in love with him. You are my love. Something hard to believe, even for myself, as it’s also a kind of impossible love, not only because of [the] distance but [also the] situation. Sometimes you don’t choose things, they just happen,” Maria wrote. “I can’t redirect my feelings and I am very happy with mine towards you,” she concluded.

During Sanford’s news conference, the governor said the woman he had an affair with was at the time of the affair separated. “We ended up in this incredibly serious conversation about why she ought to get back with her husband for the sake of her two boys; that not only was it part of God’s law, but ultimately those two boys would be better off for it,” he told reporters.

It is unknown if Sanford used public money to travel to Argentine.