Isolde, her longfamous lashes butterflykissing his near and farfamous cheek, felt him sweeter than cherry or plum, than candykisses or Lipton's fruitcake, than the hawthorn valley in the ^|amonth 1st fortnight^a| of May, than the finest ^|aband^a| music goingº than lovely ^|athick with the^a| sleep. She murmured ^|agoogooeyes^a|:

——

My preciousº since last we parted it seems to me that I have been continually in your company, even when I close my eyes to s at night, ^|aI am continually^a| seeing you, hearing you, meeting you in different placesº so that ^|aI'm I am^a| beginning to wonder whether my soul does not take leave of my body in sleep and go to seek you and what is more find you,º or ^|aperhaps perchance^a| or perhaps this is only a phantasy. Tell me,º Daniel, my precious darling.

^|aHe, her whitehaired ^|bboy doughboy^b|,^a| Heroº of tens of scrums, ^|acarrier of the ovum,^a| kisser of hundreds, blocker of thousands, ejaculater of ^|amyriads jugfulsº^a| aloudly ^|aspoke sniffledº^a| his ^|anasal^a| voice falling in strange ineffectual dropkick, so; in the language of diplomacyº

——

^|aMais^{a| |a}Pourquoi Bourquoiº^a| es-tu ^|aentrée andrée^a| dans my ^|avie fie^a|, Henriette?º Je ^|acroyais groyais^a| mon âme déjà morteº
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She lifted her head, her eyes ^|acontent supremely satisfied^a|. For now ^|afull well^a| she ^|aknew rather gathered^{a| |a}from his persiflage^{a| |a}that he was a loveslave for lifeº^a| that she ^|ait^a| was ^|athe one^a| and not that ^|aginger bitch mousy mopº^{a| |a}golliwog curls,^a| Kateagnes Halloranº

He, the gentleman, was sodavisaged. First ^|xa martyr to indigestionº^x| he was rather liable to pa piles procured by sitting on stone walls ^|awhile revelling in the beauty of nature^a| and over and above that ^|xwhen he contracted a stubborn cough^x| by medical advice of Dr Codd he had been lowering daily ^|adraughts potions^a| of extract of willow bark to keep off the Hibernian flu. With feverish pallorº ^|aindicating the action of the high seas on a teetotal stomachº^a| he beheld the holy ghosts of his undergradual loves, Henriette atop of the haycock, Nenette de ^|al'Eglise l'Abbaye^a| behind the taproom ^|adoorº^a|, Marie Louise all fun and fleas, tipsy Suzanne catch as catch can, and, last but not least, the rawboned housekeeper of the local parish priest. Ghastlily, he pastloveyed her ^|awith a blackedged expression^a|.

— Smiling Johnny, pleaded she ^|agynelexically^a|, do you ^|acare keen^a| for ^|ame meemee^a| just a ^|alittle ^|bweeny little weeny mossel^b|a|?

^|aOffsong &^a| Partiallyº selfstrangled ^|ahe replied tried to reply he^a|:

^|xhe unread replied brightly^{x| |x}he brightly winkily replied after after thinking it over^x|

— ^|aYes,^a| Lady, I am not worthy. ^|aIf you but knew You little know a man's past^a|. Why were we born in two different places? Wherefore have we met?º yesterday so to speak? Why this strangulation, this yearning for a bonum arduum as distinguished from a bonum simpliciter? ^|aWill you accept a portion of my divided heart?^a| Wellaway, alas, for death in, with, for and on account of my wellbeloved I mutely yearn.

— O, can that sobstuff, ^|alet you^{a| |a}Myº ^|bown^b| loveman must not spe talk like that,^{a| |a}answered Isolde the ^|bDublin bold^b| puss answered^a|
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impatiently after her waiting patiently all through the damned old dinner of burnt loinchops and ignoble potatoes with everybody talking ^|afrom soup to nuts all^a| about loinchops and ^|apotatoes mashed murphies^a| and the pig's arse and cabbage of the day before and ^|athey saying it wasn't a patch on^a| the silverside boiled cowbeef of the ^|astewsday^a| dayº before that again ^|a& the roast potroast^a| with purpletop swedes and equally ignoble potatoes colieflower without a morsel of appetite ^|awhen a plain bottle of porter & a gooseberry tart would have done her^a|. Love she wanted, the ^|abest biggest^a| obtainable, true new blind bottomless ^|a|bhighspeed^b| stunning^a| staggerhumanity ^|acaveman^a| love at first sight ^|athe universal super jewelº^a| for which reason she again kissed him and he, being ^|aa an inborn^a| gentleman ^|awith a gift of blushing as well as of backgammon^a|, counterkissed because it was his one maxim in ^|athis^a| life that if a lady, for example, ^|awanted happened to have a libidoº^a| a bite of a piece of Stilton cheese and he happened, for argument' sake, to have a quarter of a pound or so of ^|aStilton cheese feetygreen Gorgonzola^a| in his pocketº why he'd just simply put his hand in his pocket, don't you know, and well he'd just give her the cheese, don't you see, to take a bite off. Howeverº first & foremost, before testing her triangle to prove whether she was as the newspapers reported a virgo intacta, he asked her whether she had ever indulged in clandestine fornication ^|awith or without contraceptives^a|.

No, nein, never ^|ain God's world^a|, ^|ainnocent as the undriven snow^a|, ^|ashe his almost aunt^a| swore ^|awhilst she adhered to ^|bhim that big left ^|xNeagh York^x| shoulder of his^b|a|. By the axecleft of my notch! By the hairs of my dearest parents! By the inviolable dew of Ben Bulben! By the freshwater pullan herring! ^|aNo ^|bmortal plunderer has ever wanderedº^b| has ever beheld the hundred wonders of my underland^a|

Her mournful embracer pointed to the ^|astarry sidereal^a| host. By them he bade her swear, them that were and are and shall be, the silently
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strewingº, the strikingly shining, the twittingly twinkling, ^|aour true home^a| and (as her he ^|atruly uranographically^a| remarked), the lamplights of lovers ^|ain the Beyond.^a|

Up they gazed, skyward ^|ato stardom^a|, while in ^|aher his girleen's^a| ear that loveless lover, ^|asinless sinner,^a| breathed:
How gentle & kind I am, Issy. I never hurt the feelings of another. And, I say, what a lovely nature is mine!

It wasn't exactly anything he said or it wasn't anything he exactly did but all the same it was something about him like the way he was always sticking his finger into his trousers pocket and then sticking it into his eye like a ^|aborny^a| baby, ^|athe great big slob that she let let out a whistle^{a| |x}or the once she dropped her ittle ^|ahanky hankyfuss^a| and the way so graceful he picked it up with his ^|afoot hoof^a| and ^|ahanded footed^a| it up ^|apolitefully^a| to her ittle nibbleurs.^x|

— Go away from me instantly ^|ayou thing^a| she ^|acried roared^a|. ^|aCurse your stinking putrid soul & all belonged to you ^|byou scum^{b| |b}Don't forget me! Forget me not!^b|a|

— Perfect ^|ayou bloody bitch^a| he said.

He took leave of her and ^|awent circulated as bidden^a|. ^|aHearing his name called ^|bbefore many minutes had passed^b| he most sagaciously ceased to walk about and turned^|b, his look now charged with purpose^b|.^a|

— No, come back, she cried. ^|aHow sweetly you responded to me.^{a| |a}I can't live without you! I so want you!^a|

— It's important, ^|ahe her nephew ^|bwho was very continental^b|a| said, stopped & circulated at walking pace in an opposite direction.