"I wonder," said she, thoughtfully, "whether it is strength of mind or a lack of ideas that makes them silent."
"It is mostly prudence," said Mr. Brice. "Prudence is our dominant trait."
Virginia fidgeted. Usually she had an easier time.
"You have not always shown it," she said, with an innocence which in women is often charged with meaning.
Stephen started. Her antagonism was still there. He would have liked greatly to know whether she referred to his hasty purchase of Hester, or to his rashness in dancing with her at her party the winter before.
"We have something left to be thankful for," he answered. "We are still capable of action."
"On occasions it is violence," said Virginia, desperately. This man must not get ahead of her.
"It is just as violent," said he, "as the repressed feeling which prompts it."
This was a new kind of conversation to Virginia. Of all the young men she knew, not one had ever ventured into anything of the sort. They were either flippant, or sentimental, or both. She was at once flattered and annoyed, flattered, because, as a woman, Stephen had conceded her a mind. Many of the young men she knew had minds, but deemed that these were wasted on women, whose language was generally supposed to be a kind of childish twaddle. Even Jack Brinsmade rarely risked his dignity and reputation at an intellectual tilt. This was one of Virginia's grievances. She often argued with her father, and, if the truth were told, had had more than one victory over Judge Whipple.
Virginia's annoyance came from the fact that she perceived in Stephen a natural and merciless logic,—a faculty for getting at the bottom of things. His brain did not seem to be thrown out of gear by local magnetic influences,—by beauty, for instance. He did not lose his head, as did some others she knew, at the approach of feminine charms. Here was a grand subject, then, to try the mettle of any woman. One with less mettle would have given it up. But Virginia thought it would be delightful to bring this particular Yankee to his knees; and—and leave him there.