his way and that over the
velvet-smooth lawn.

And now the bewitching Pastora appears upon the scene (but would Mrs.
Clive have worn a gold _pince-nez_ at rehearsal?) and she has just
quarrelled with her lover Palaemon--

"Insulting boy! I'll tear him from my mind;
Ah! would my fortune could a husband find!
And just in time, young Damon comes this way,
A handsome youth he is, and rich, they say."

The butterfly-hearted Damon responds at once:

"Vouchsafe, sweet maid, to hear a wretched swain,
Who, lost in wonder, hugs the pleasing chain:
For you in sighs I hail the rising day,
To you at eve I sing the lovesick lay;
Then take my love, my homage as your due--
The Devil's in her, if all this won't do." [_Aside._

It must be confessed that the pretty and smiling and blushing Miss
Georgie Lestrange looked just a little self-conscious as she had to
listen to this extremely frank declaration; but she had the part of the
coquettish Pastora to play; and Pastora, as soon as she discovers that
Damon has no thought of marriage, naturally declines to have anything to
do with him. And here came in the duet which had first suggested this
escapade:

[Illustration:

"_You say at your feet that I wept in despair.
And voic'd that no angel was ever so fair;
How could you believe all the nonsense I spoke?
What know we of angels? I meant it in joke
I meant it in joke.
What know we of angels? I meant it in joke._"]

"DAMON. From flow'r to flow'r, his joy to change,
Flits yonder wanton bee;
From fair to fair thus will I range,
And I'll be ever free.
From fair to fair thus will I range,
And I'll be ever free.

"PASTORA. You little birds attentive view,
That hop from tree to tree;
I'll copy them, I'll copy you,
For I'll be ever free.

"DUETTO. Then let's divide to east and west
Since we shall ne'er agree;
And try who keeps their promise best
And who's the longest free.
Let's try who keeps their promise best
And who's the longest free."

And again the audience made bold to clap their hands; for Miss Georgie
Lestrange, despite her self-depreciation, sang very well indeed; and of
course Lionel Moore knew how to moderate his voice, so that the