Page:The Black Moth.pdf/235

 “Well? What of me?”

“You told me this morning that you had at last fallen in love. It is true? You are honestly in love?”

“ Honestly? How do I know? I only know that I have felt this passion for four months, and now it is stronger than ever. It sounds like love.”

“Then, an she is a good woman, I hope she will consent to take you, such as you are, and make of you such as she can!”

“Now that is very neat, Frank. I congratulate you. Of course she will take me; as to the rest—I think not.”

“Tare an’ ouns, Tracy! but an that is the tone you take with her, she’ll have none of you!”

"I have never found it unsuccessful.”

"With your common trollops, no! But if your Diana is a lady, she will dispatch you about your business! Woo her, man! Forget your own damned importance, for I think you will need to humble yourself to the dust if all that you tell me has passed between you is true!”

They had paused outside the card-room. A curtain shut it off from the ball-room, and with his hand on it, Tracy stared arrogantly down at his friend.

“Humble myself? ’Fore Gad, you must be mad!”

“Belike I am; but I tell you, Tracy, that if your passion is love, ’tis a strange one that puts yourself first. I would not give the snap of a finger for it! You want this girl, not for her happiness, but for your own pleasure. That is not the love I once told you would save you from yourself. When it comes, you will count yourself as nought; you will realise your own insignificance, and above all, be ready to make any sacrifice for her sake. Yes, even to the point of losing her!”

His Grace’s lips sneered.

“Your eloquence is marvellous,” he remarked. “I have not been so amused since I left Paris.”