They are chivalrous;
they do their best to win. When they lose, they would rather have
been rejected by this woman than accepted by any other; and they are
always ready to congratulate the man more fortunate than they. They
are in fact simply irresistible, and one can not help believing in
their ultimate success. In _The Lost Mistress_, which Swinburne said
was worth a thousand _Lost Leaders_, the lover has just been rejected,
and instead of thinking of his own misery, he endeavours to make the
awkward situation easier for the girl by small-talk about the
sparrows and the leaf-buds. She has urged that their friendship
continue; that this episode need not put an end to their meetings,
and that he can come to see her as often as he likes, only there
must be no nonsense; he must promise to be sensible, and treat her
only as a friend. Instead of rejecting this suggestion with scorn, he
accepts, and agrees to do his best.
Tomorrow we meet the same then, dearest?
May I take your hand in mine?
Mere friends are we .
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