'This love affair has been a misfortune to you both, Arthur.'
'True, Viscount; but we cannot control our hearts.'
'We—then the lady fully responds?'
'Oh, yes—as much as lover could desire.'
'You are riddles! She must be won by a coup-de-main, or she will soon be taken from you, and then you will be compelled to forget her.'
'Impossible!' said I, buckling my sword-belt over my pourpoint.
'So you think; but nothing is impossible to time. Learn to love her at a distance; her image will then fade gradually, while another may soon supplant it; for the human heart cannot remain long vacant.'
I shook my head sorrowfully.
'Well—I have but one other advice to offer.'
'And that is—'