[The sparrows die away.]
Evelyn [shaking her head]. No.
Cecil. Please!
Evelyn [shaking her head]. No.
Cecil. Well, you're very foolish. Love isn't a thing to throw away. It's too precious for that. Love is the most beautiful thing in the whole world. You said so yourself not ten minutes ago.
Evelyn. I didn't. You said it. [Looking down.]
Cecil. But you said it after me. [Gently and gravely.] Eve, dear, don't be silly. Let's be in love while we can. Youth is the time to be in love, isn't it? Soon you and I will be dull and stupid and middle-aged like all the other tedious people. And then it will be too late. Youth passes so quickly. Don't let's waste a second of it. They say the May-fly only lives for one day. He is born in the morning. All the afternoon he flutters over the river in the sunshine, dodging the trout and flirting with other May-flies. And at evening he dies. Think of the poor May-fly who happens to be born on a wet day! The tragedy of it!
Evelyn [softly]. Poor May-fly.
Cecil. There! You're sorry for the May-fly, you see. You're only angry with me.
Evelyn. Because you're not a May-fly.