terrace.

"Well, old man, how are you getting on?" asked Eugene.

"Capitally! stronger every day in body and happier in mind. I grumbled a
great deal when I first broke down, but now I'm not sure a rest isn't
good for me. You can stop and have a look where you are going to."

"And you think you can stand it?"

"Stand what, my dear fellow?"

"Why, the life you lead--a life studiously emptied of everything that
makes life pleasant."

"Ah! you are like Lady Claudia!" said Stafford, smiling. "I can tell
you, though, what I can hardly tell her. There are some men who can make
no terms with the body. Does that sound very mediæval? I mean men who,
unless they are to yield utterly to pleasure, must have no dealings with
it."

"You boycott pleasure for fear of being too fond of it?"

"Yes; I don't lay down that rule for everybody. For me it is the right
and only one."

"You think it right for a good many people, though?"

"Well, you know, the many-headed beast is strong."