“Will I have to abandon pastime altogether?”
“It’s for you to say.”
“For you to choose—all or nothing ... dearest.”
She said petulantly: “I didn’t come here for these ponderous life-or-death choosings—I came for ... for Japanese lanterns dancing in the tree-tops.”
“That sort of thing. Yes—
‘A tinkering with the lute of love
By a nervous hand in a padded glove.’”
He broke off, shrugged his shoulders, gesture which conveyed without insult: “Ça ennui, à la fin....”
Then still without touching her: “Well—is it to be the faithful wife?”