'Never?'
'Oh, I've made a fool of myself occasionally, of course. But I've never been in love.'
'Except with Hélène de la Granjolaye?'
'Oh, yes, I was in love with her—when I was ten.'
'Till you were...?'
'Till I was...?'
'How long did it take you to get over it, I mean?'
'I don't know. It wore away gradually. The tooth of time.'
'You're not at all in love with her any more?'
'After twenty years? And she a Queen? I hope I know my place.'