"That is for me to say."
Peter looked at Vivette and found her inexorably set against him.
Clearly she was not that day to be moved. His passion died, and her
words went poignantly home. He released her arm. His increasing
dejection prompted Vivette to soften the steel of her manner:
"Cool yourself, Peter. Put me out of your mind. You are not looking for
a mistress, and I want you to wait for the real thing."
"To have you would be very real. You have proved already that you love
me."
She saw again the serpent's head and crushed it.
"I have loved before," she said deliberately. "Last night would have
meant less to me than to you. Is that what you want?"
Peter cursed himself, and went.
"Good-bye," Vivette called to him. "Next time we meet I expect you to be
in a better mind."
Vivette now had leisure to be surprised at herself.
For the first time in her life she had refused something she really
wanted. She decided that this was the limit of her generosity. She had
refused Peter for herself, but at any rate no other woman should,
without a title, pluck the fruit of her sacrifice. She would closely
examine any claim on Peter which might be made.