Page:Crotchet Castle - Peacock (1831).djvu/217

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THE MOUNTAIN INN.
205

MR. CHAINMAIL.

I surmised as much: at the same time, the unusual melancholy of an in general most vivacious young lady made me wonder at your having acted so precipitately. The lady's heart is yours, if there be truth in signs.

CAPTAIN FITZCHROME.

Hearts are not now what they were in the days of the old song; "Will love be controlled by advice?"

MR. CHAINMAIL.

Very true; hearts, heads, and arms have all degenerated, most sadly. We can no more feel the high impassioned love of the ages, which some people have the impudence to call dark, than we can wield King Richard's battleaxe, bend Robin Hood's bow, or flourish the oaken graff of the Pindar of Wakefield. Still we have our tastes and