"What a lovely day; a real lover's day!" he said, with a sigh, when he had joined her, and they were walking on.
"Delightful," said Belle-bouche, smelling a violet.
"And the blossoms, you know," observed Jacques disconsolately.
"Delicious!"
"To say nothing of the birds," continued Jacques, sighing. "I believe the birds know the twentieth of May is coming."
"Why—what takes place upon the twentieth?" said Belle-bouche, with a faint smile.
"That is the day for lovers, and I observed a number of birds making love as I came along," sighed Jacques. "I only wish they'd teach me how."
Belle-bouche turned away, blushing.
"On the twentieth of May," continued Jacques, enveloping the fascinating countenance of Belle-bouche with his melancholy glance, "the old lovers in Arcadia—the Strephons, Chloes, Corydons, Daphnes, and Narcissuses—always made love and married on that day."
"Then," said Belle-bouche, faintly smiling, "they did every thing very quickly."