desire and delight of the masculine heart.

In their social intercourse two kinds of women please men: the
bright, pert woman, who says such things and does such things as no
other woman would dare to say and do, and who is therefore very
amusing; and the sympathetic woman who admires and perhaps loves
them. But these two great classes have wide and indefinite varieties,
and the bright little woman with her innocent audaciousness, and
the graceful, swan-necked angel, with her fine feelings and her softly
spoken compliments, are but types of species that have infinite
peculiarities, and distinctions. The two women, sitting quietly in
the same room and dressed in the same orthodox fashion, may not
appear to be radically different, but as soon as conversation and
dancing commence, the one, in a frankly outspoken way, says just
what she thinks, and charms in the most undisguised manner, while the
other must be looked for in retired corners, quiet and demure,
listening with pensive adoration to her companion's cleverness,
and flirting in that insidious way which sets other women's cheeks
burning with indignation.

An absolutely womanly ideal for the purposes of flirtation or of
platonic friendship--if such an emotion exists--is not supposable; for
man is himself so many-sided that the woman who is perfect in one's
estimation would be uninteresting in another's. It is, however, very
certain that the women men flirt with are not the women men marry.
Their social favorites, are not the matrimonial favorites, and
therefore it is not a good thing for a girl's settlement that she
should get the reputation of being a "gentlemen's favorite." It is
rather a position to be avoided, for the brightest or sweetest girl
with this character will likely pass her best years in charming all
without being able to fix one lover to her side for life. This is the
secret of the great number of plain married women whom every one
counts among his acquaintances.

The position of a favorite is no easy one. She has to cultivate many
qualities which should be put to better use and bring her more
satisfactory results. She must have discrimination enough to value
flirting at its proper value; for if she confounds love-making with
love, and takes everything _au grand serieux_, her reputation as a
safe favorite would be seriously endangered. In her flirtations she
must never permit herself to show whether she be hit or not. She must
never suffer a fop