"Not at all," he said. "These country lovers do not die of broken hearts; he may feel very angry at first, but he will forget you in a few weeks, and fall in love, all over again, with some rosy-faced milkmaid."
"He will never forget me," said Doris; "and his despair will be terrible."
She shuddered a little as though some bleak, cold wind were blowing over her, then she said:
"If he knew I had betrayed him, and he found me, he would kill me."
Again Lord Vivianne laughed.
"Lovers do not kill their faithless loves in these prosaic days. An action of breach of promise, a good round sum by way of compensation, and all is over."
"You do not know Earle," she said, quietly. "I should be afraid of him if I deceived him."
"Never mind Earle!" said Lord Vivianne, impatiently; "I should say that it was a great impertinence of any one like Earle to think of winning such a beautiful prize as you. What has he to offer you?"
"His name and his fame," she replied, bitterly.
"What is a name?—and all copy-books of the goodly kind will tell you 'Fame is but a breath,'" he replied. "Never mind Earle, rely upon it that I can find some fair house either in sunny France or fair Italy where Earle will never disturb us. If you are really frightened at him, we will have no settled house, but we will roam over every fair land under the sun. Will you go, my darling, and leave this dull place?"