A woman's innocence has a rainbow skin. Set this one
beside other women, she comes out well, fairly well, well enough.

Now that the engagement with Charlotte assumed proportions of a series of
battle, properly to be entitled a campaign, he had, in his loneliness,
fallen into the habit of reflecting at the close of his day's work; and
the rubbing of that unused opaque mirror hanging inside a man of action
had helped him piecemeal to perceive bits of his conduct, entirely
approved by him, which were intimately connected, nevertheless, with a
train of circumstances that he disliked and could not charge justly upon
any other shoulders than his own. What was to be thought of it? He would
not be undergoing this botheration of the prolonged attempt to bring a
stubborn woman to a sense of her duty, if he had declared his marriage in
the ordinary style, and given his young countess her legitimate place
before the world. What impeded it? The shameful ingratitude of his
countrymen to the soldier who did it eminent service at a crisis of the
destinies of our Indian Empire! He could not condone the injury done to
him by entering among them again. Too like the kicked cur, that! He
retired--call it 'sulked in his tent,' if you like. His wife had to share
his fortunes. He being slighted, she necessarily was shadowed. For a
while she bore it contentedly enough; then began her mousy scratches to
get into the room off the wainscot, without blame from him; she behaved
according to her female nature.

Yes, but the battles with Charlotte forced on his recognition once more,
and violently, the singular consequences of his retirement and Coriolanus
quarrel with his countrymen. He had doomed himself ever since to a
contest with women. First it was his Queen of Amazons, who, if
vanquished, was not so easily vanquished, and, in fact, doubtfully,--for
now, to propitiate her, he had challenged, and must overcome or be
disgraced, the toughest Amazonian warrior man could stand against at cast
of dart or lock of arms. No day scored an advantage; and she did not
apparently suffer fatigue. He did: that is to say, he was worried and
hurried to have the wrangle settled and Charlotte at Aminta's feet. He
gained not an inch of ground. His principle in a contention of the sort
was to leave the woman to the practice of her obvious artifices, and
himself simply hammer, incessantly hammer. But Charlotte hammered as
well. The modest position of the defensive n