But something infinitely more

Than just a European War

Would have been requisite to part

Romance from Mariana's heart;

Once more she felt within her stir

The dawn of une affaire de coeur;

In other words, I must confess

She found her thoughts were centred less

On that young man who never came

And more on Captain What's-his-name,

Who'd left his other leg in France

And was a model of romance.

The wedding was a pretty thing;

I sent the "Idylls of the King,"

Well bound. And Mariana wrote

A most appreciative note.

They live in London now, I'm told;

The Moated Grange is let (or sold);

I only hope they'll manage so

That TENNYSON need never know.