“For with the dream foregone, foregone,
The deed foreborne for ever,
The worm regret will canker on,
And time will turn him never.”
Professor Theobald shifted his position slightly.
“Ah, well it were to love, my love,
And cheat of any laughter
The fate beneath us and above,
The dark before and after.
“The myrtle and the rose, the rose,
The sunlight and the swallow,
The dream that comes, the dream that goes,
The memories that follow.”
The song was greeted with a vague stir among the silent audience. A little breeze gave a deep satisfied sigh, among the trees.
Several other songs followed, and then the party broke up. They were to amuse themselves as they pleased during the afternoon, and to meet on the same spot for five o’clock tea.
“I wish Hadria would not be so reckless!” cried Algitha anxiously. “Have you seen her lately?”
“When last I saw her,” said Valeria, “she had strolled off with the Professor and Mr. Moreton. Mr. Fleming and Lord Engleton were following with Mrs. Fenwick.”
“There is safety in numbers, at any rate, but I am distressed about her. It is all very well what she says, about not allowing her woman’s sole weapon to be wrenched from her, but she can’t use it in this way, safely. One can’t play with human emotions without coming to grief.”
“A man, at any rate, has no idea of being led an emotional dance,” said Miss Du Prel.