 | Lucile |  |
XXXI.
The Duke
Hesitated and paused. He could tell, by the look
Of the man at his side, that he meant what he said,
And there flash'd in a moment these thoughts thro' his head:
‘Leave Ems! would that suit me? no! that were again
‘To mar all. And besides, if I do not explain,
‘She herself will ... et puis, il a raison; on est
‘Gentilhomme après tout!’ He replied therefore,
Hesitated and paused. He could tell, by the look
207
And there flash'd in a moment these thoughts thro' his head:
‘Leave Ems! would that suit me? no! that were again
‘To mar all. And besides, if I do not explain,
‘She herself will ... et puis, il a raison; on est
‘Gentilhomme après tout!’ He replied therefore,
‘Nay!
‘Madame de Nevers had rejected me. I,
‘In those days, I was mad; and in some mad reply
‘I threaten'd the life of the rival to whom
‘That rejection was due, I was led to presume.
‘She fear'd for his life; and the letter which then
‘She wrote me, I show'd you; we met: and again
‘My hand was refused, and my love was denied.
‘And the glance you mistook was the vizard which Pride
‘Lends to Humiliation.’
‘Madame de Nevers had rejected me. I,
‘In those days, I was mad; and in some mad reply
‘I threaten'd the life of the rival to whom
‘That rejection was due, I was led to presume.
‘She fear'd for his life; and the letter which then
‘She wrote me, I show'd you; we met: and again
‘My hand was refused, and my love was denied.
‘And the glance you mistook was the vizard which Pride
‘Lends to Humiliation.’
‘And so,’ half in jest
He went on, ‘in this best world, 'tis all for the best!
‘You are wedded (bless'd Englishman!), wedded to one
‘Whose past can be call'd into question by none:
‘And I (fickle Frenchman!) can still laugh to feel
‘I am lord of myself, and the Mode: and Lucile
‘Still shines from her pedestal, frigid and fair
‘As yon German moon o'er the linden-tops there!
‘A Dian in marble that scorns any troth
‘With the little love-gods, whom I thank for us both,
‘While she smiles from her lonely Olympus apart,
‘That her arrows are marble as well as her heart.
‘Stay at Ems, Alfred Vargrave!’
He went on, ‘in this best world, 'tis all for the best!
‘You are wedded (bless'd Englishman!), wedded to one
‘Whose past can be call'd into question by none:
‘And I (fickle Frenchman!) can still laugh to feel
‘I am lord of myself, and the Mode: and Lucile
‘Still shines from her pedestal, frigid and fair
‘As yon German moon o'er the linden-tops there!
‘A Dian in marble that scorns any troth
‘With the little love-gods, whom I thank for us both,
‘While she smiles from her lonely Olympus apart,
‘That her arrows are marble as well as her heart.
‘Stay at Ems, Alfred Vargrave!’
| Lucile | |