_Lord Albemarle to Mademoiselle Gaucher, on seeing her look very
earnestly at the Evening Star_.
Oh! do not gaze upon that star,
That distant star, so earnestly,
If thou would'st not my pleasure mar--
For ah! I cannot give it thee.[3]
And, such is my unbounded love,
Thou should'st not gaze upon a thing
I would not make thee mistress of,
And prove in love, at least, a _King_!
[3] Lord Albemarle, when advanced in years, was the lover and
protector of Mademoiselle Gaucher. Her name of infancy, and that
by which she was more endeared to her admirer, was Lolotte. One
evening, as they were walking together, perceiving her eyes
fixed on a star, he said to her, "Do not look at it so
earnestly, my dear, I cannot give it you!"--Never, says
Marmontel, did love express itself more delicately.