is as when one kindleth a fire.

* * *

The eye tells more than the tongue. And

If the eye and the tongue contradict each other, believe the eye.

* * *

There is an indifference that attracts, and there is an indifference that
repels. He is a sagacious man, and she is a sagacious woman, who will
differentiate them. The question resolves itself into that which so
often puzzles the angler,--how much line to let out. About one thing
there need be no hesitation,

When your fish is within reach, be quick with the landing-net--or even
with the gaff.

* * *

In the matter of wooing, soon enough does the young girl learn to prefer
the mature manners of the man of the world to the gaucheries of
inexperienced youth. As to the man!

How curious the things that appeal to this lord of creation, Man!--a
half-averted face--a laughing gesture--a merry eye--an all but
imperceptible tone of the voice--the scarce felt touch of a reluctant
hand--a semi-tender phrase--an unexpected glance--the momentary
pressure of petulant lips--a blanched cheek--a look prolonged one
fractional part of a second beyond its wont--an infinitesimal drooping
of the eyelid--a speaking silence--a half-caught sigh--these will
entrap the male brute where green widths that were never dried will not
hold him. But

By what men are won, most women seem thoroughly to comprehend.

By what women are won, few men know. Perhaps

No woman knows by what she herself is won.

One thing there is, at all events, to which woman will always succumb:
tenderness. But remember, Dames, that

Tenderness is extremely difficult of simulation. Or rather,

Tenderness is so delicate and deep-seated a feeling, that few care to
attempt its simulation.

* * *

A woman who gives herself too freely is apt to regret the giving. In
time, too, she discovers that, as a matter of fact,

No woman can give her real self twice: one or other gift will prove to be
a loan. (And

It is always and only the first recipient that causes a woman's heart to
flutter, and often it flutters long.) 144

A second gift is generally a mortgage--if it is not a sale.

A mortgage is difficult to bind. For

There is a statute of limitations in love as there is in law. Nor is the
former to be set aside by bond.

That pair is in a parlous state when either party discovers that the
title was not properly searched. Since

Everybody expects a fee simple,--though few deserve it, God w