He then ran over in his mind all the opportunities he had had for putting in something smart, and bitterly regretted those lost opportunities; and made the smart things, and beat the air with them. Then his cheeks tingled when he remembered that he had almost scolded her; and he concocted a very different speech, and straightway repeated it in imagination. This is lovers' pastime; I own it funny; but it is open to one objection, this single practice of sitting upon eggs no longer chickenable, carried to a habit, is capable of turning a solid intellect into a liquid one, and ruining a mind's career. We leave Mr. Vane, therefore, with a hope that he will not do it every night; and we follow his friend to the close of our chapter. Hey for a definition! What is diplomacy? Is it folly in a coat that looks like sagacity? Had Sir Charles Pomander, instead of watching Mr. Vane and Mrs. Woffington, asked the former whether he admired the latter, and whether the latter responded, straightforward Vane would have told him the whole truth in a minute. Diplomacy therefore was, as it often is, a waste of time. But diplomacy did more in this case, it _sapienter descendebat in fossam;_ it fell on its nose with gymnastic dexterity, as it generally does, upon my word. To watch Mrs. Woffington's face _vis-a-vis_ Mr. Vane, Pomander introduced Vane to the green-room of the Theater Royal, Covent Garden. By this Pomander learned nothing, because Mrs. Woffington had, with a wonderful appearance of openness, the closest face in Europe when she chose. On the other hand, by introducing this country gentleman to this green-room, he gave a mighty impulse and opportunity to Vane's love; an opportunity which he forgot the timid, inexperienced Damon might otherwise never have found. Here diplomacy was not policy, for, as my sagacious reader has perhaps divined, Sir Charles Pomander _was after her himself._ CHAPTER III. YES, Sir Charles was _after_ Mrs. Woffington. I use that phrase because it is a fine generic one, suitable to different kinds of love-making. Mr. Vane's sentiments were an inexplicable compound; but respect, enthusiasm, and deep admiration were the uppermost. The good Sir Charles was no enigma. He had a vacancy in his establishment--a very high situation, too, for those who like that sort of thing--the head of his table, his left hand when he drove in the Park, etc. To this he proposed to promote Mrs. Woffington. She was handsome and witty, and he liked her. But that was not what caused him to pursue her; slow, sagacious, inevitable as a beagle. She was celebrated, and would confer great _eclat_ on him. The scandal of possessing her was a burning temptation. Women admire celebrity in a man; but men adore it in a woman. “The world,” says Philip, “is a famous man; What will not women love so taught?” I will try to answer this question.