" You've done her a service to teach her that romantic love is largely made of illusion." [said Mina.] " Is it?" Alessandra asked, unable to suppress a worried sigh. Mina looked at her as if she knew exactly what Alessandra was thinking. " I said 'romantic love,' my dear--not true love." " But how can one know," asked Alessandra, " one from the other?" " True love," said Mina, " is something that reveals itself only with the passage of time. "