“What a romantic simile!”
“So a man, when he has been badly treated by one woman whom he did care for, tries to find consolation—and does so find it very often—in flirtations with a dozen other women who have no power to make his heart throb faster, but who can make the time pass pleasantly enough.”
“I have heard that sort of excuse from inconstant people before, and I think it a very clever one.”
“And what excuse have you heard from the woman who was the cause of the inconstancy?”
Annie’s cheeks flushed as she still looked steadily at the fire. He was taking her to account for her treatment of himself. After a few moments’ hesitation she answered, in a light tone:
“You are talking too vaguely; put before me a clear case of a woman having done wrong to a man, which forced him to seek relief in inconstancy, and I will plead her cause and confound you.”
“Very well. Suppose that a man had admired and shown his admiration of a woman who had rather reserved manners to most people. Suppose that her reserve with him had gradually given way, until she allowed him to be her constant companion, treated him with at least the show of complete confidence, exchanged opinions freely with him on every subject, and allowed her apparent preference for his society to be taken for granted.”
“Did she allow him to make love to her?”
“No, she did something more dangerous; she allowed him to make love to every woman but her. He was too much in earnest to flirt with her, and she must have known it.”
“I think that is an absurd conclusion to come to, that the woman must have known he loved her because he didn’t tell her so. If women were to go by such a rule in all cases——”