self—be your own idol. If a lover ruins himself for your amusement, you ask, what better could he have done with his fortune? If, by any odd chance, he was to do—what they all talk of doing—die for your sake! well, it is quite charming to be paid such an unusual compliment. It is curious to note, after all, that people take you very much on your own estimate! Modesty is only a proof of merit in 'Gay's Fables;' generally, it is taken as a tacit acknowledgement that you have nothing of which to be proud. My motto of 'je m'adore,' is only what I expect!"
"Well, the exaggeration is pleasant enough," answered Maynard, smiling.
"It is truer than you like to admit. What makes Sir George Kingston—so false, so insolent, to others—a complete slave to my caprices? Only because I do not care for him! He knows I should only laugh at his desertion; and he would not like to be the one who was left, which he knows I should do for the first thwarted whim."
"And yet this man," muttered Walter,
