“But,” combated the senator, “you must admit that Solomon had ample opportunity to make a study of your sex, and he reserved all his praise for the good woman, averring that her price was above rubies.”
Egeria’s smile was faintly cynical. “That was in his capacity as philosopher. As mere man, he gave the rubies and an immortal song to a Shulamite girl who looked at him with youth in her smile and laughter in her eyes.”
“A tribute to beauty,” contested the senator.
“Not at all. Because she fascinated him.”
“And the secret of fascination is beauty,” he triumphed.
She refused to admit it. “The secret of fascination lies with the woman who can convince a man that under no circumstances could she possibly bore him.”
The senator was still argumentative. “I continue to maintain that beauty is some subtle essence of the soul.”
“But the last word, the one word, the eternal word,” quoted Egeria, rising, “is that beauty is——”
“What?” he questioned, eagerly.
“In the eye of the beholder.”