"So soon?"
"This is a southern country, and we begin early. Are you a woman-hater, as Stefan is? In the back of my mind there is a reverence for women."
"Keep it, lad, if you can; it may bring you to much good. For my part,
I hardly know my position in the matter."
"Would telling the tale to me help your judgment?" inquired the lad.
"A man does not speak of such things often, Grigosie."
"Ah, your love tale has advanced some way, then. It was not a glance and a passing word, and a thorn left in the heart to hurt terribly at times. That was my case."
"There is a woman I deeply respect and honor," said Ellerey. "To love her would be much to my advantage."
"Why not, then?" asked the boy.
"Because of a memory, the memory of another woman. With her it was a passing word and a look; but they came to me when life was at its darkness, and I have never forgotten them. It was an early morning in England, a morning that has no equal in the whole world, full of sunshine and breeze and perfume; and she came into it suddenly and unexpectedly. She would not choose to remember me if she thought such a memory lingered in my heart. She was out of my reach even then, and in those days I was something more than a Captain of Horse."
"But after this enterprise you will be something more."