"Not since she was reported to have run away with you," countered Juliet.
He laughed aloud. "Ah! She forfeited your sympathy there, did she? Mais, Juliette—" his voice sank suddenly upon a caressing note, "there are few women to whom I could not give happiness—for a time."
"I know," said Juliet, and drew her hand away. "That is why we all admire you so. But even you, most potent Charles, couldn't satisfy a woman who was wanting—some one else."
"You don't think I could make her forget?" he said.
She shook her head, smiling. "When the real thing comes along, all shams must go overboard. It's the rule of the game."
"And this is the real thing?" he questioned.
She made a little gesture as of one who accepts the inevitable. "Je le crois bien," she said softly.
Lord Saltash made a grimace. "And I am to give you up without a thought to this bounder?"
"You would," she replied gently, "if I were yours to give."
"If you were Lady Jo for instance?" he suggested.