Should  these  unworthy  seem,  and  base,
Forgive  me,  nor  withhold  from  me,
The  gift  of  kindly  thought  from  thee.'


Froissarfs  Love  Story  2ii

Mark,  however,  the  sequel.     When    these   insi-
dious Hnes  were  craftily  given,  according  to  the  plot,
to  the  lady  for  whom  they  were  intended,  an  unfore-
seen accident  occurred.      She  knew  the  handwriting
and    laughed,    saying    mysteriously    '  Ca  !'      What
comfort  is  to  be  got  out  of  a  colourless  interjection  ?
It   may   mean   anything;    presumably   '9a'   meant
some  sort  of  discouragement.    To  be  sure,  she  added
presently   the   words,  '  What    he   asks   is   no   small
thing';  yet  there  is  not  much  in  the  way  of  hope
to    be    gathered   from    this    sentence.     It   must   be
owned    that    the    young    lady    appears    throughout
singularly  cold  as  regards  her  proposed  suitor.     This
lack  of  encouragement  reminds  us  that  we  are  in  a
period  of  decadence,  when  the  pretty  make-believes
of  the  olden  time  are  fast  losing,  if  they  have  not
already  lost,  their  significance  and  their  influence.
Had  it  been  a  great  lady,  such  as  Queen  Philippa  or
Yolande  of  Bar,  the  poet  might  have  had  a  better
chance.     To  this   little   country  damoiselle  courtly
fashions   and    chivalrous    customs    would    probably
have  small  attractions.     So  Froissart   went  melan-
choly again  and  smiled  sadly  in  pleasing  anticipation
of  dying  for  love  and  of  a  broken  heart,  'just,'  he
says,  '  like  Leander,  who  died   for  love  of  Hero,
daughter    of   Jupiter,    or    Achilles,    who    died    for
Polixena,  or   the  gentle  youth  Actaeon.'     Think  of
representing  poor  Actaeon's  hapless  end  as  due  to
love.     But  Lempricre  had  not  yet  been  born.
