"That saved the ideal."
"But I cannot live up to the Captain."
She shook her head. "There is no need. The Captain is dead. It is my cousin Armand now."
"But every woman has her ideal," I ventured.
"Yes, I shall have to find a new one."
"Then it's only exit the Captain to enter a stranger," I said.
"Not necessarily a stranger," she returned.
"To be sure," I agreed; "there is His Royal Highness, the Duke of Lotzen."
"Or Casimir of Titia," she added, drawing down her mouth. "Or even my new-found cousin Armand."
"He died with the Captain," I laughed.