You'll find much of that manufactured modesty at court. It is the trump
card in the game of love and is but a cloak for brazenness."
"Yes, I so found it," she answered, drooping her head, "for when he was
about to leave me at a secluded spot, he took my hand and would have
kissed me without so much as 'By your leave,' had I not caught his intent
before it was too late. I drew away, inclined to be angry, and said,
'Sir, one may overrun one's course by going too fast.'"
"That truism, under like circumstances at court, would have made you
famous," I said, pleased alike with her naivete and her wisdom.
"I tried, with fair success, to appear offended," she continued, blushing
deeply, "but the awful truth certainly is that I was not. I suppose it is
true that women like boldness and do not find wickedness in men as
distasteful as mothers say it is."
"On the contrary," I remarked, growing more and more delighted with her
wisdom, innocence, and candor.
"Yes," she continued, blushing exquisitely, "even since you have told me
how wicked he is, I am not sure that I like him less, though I fear him
and shall avoid him as I should a pestilence."
"Ah, but will you, can you, Frances?" I asked.
"Indeed, yes, brother Ned, and if you doubt me, you don't know me," she
returned.
"But do you know yourself?" I asked.
"Yes, now I do, thanks to your bravery," she answered.
"But you saw him many times after his first bold attempt," I suggested.
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