"
"Really?" she returned, flushing, "then please look away; you annoy me."
"Why should I, since you know it is done in admiration? You are a woman;
do not pretend distaste for it."
"I shall certainly go upstairs if you persist in talking so disagreeably."
"Indulge me a little; I feel like talking, and I promise not to be
disagreeable. Always wear white; it becomes you. Never forget that beauty
needs appropriate surroundings. Another thing, ma belle cousine, this
little trick you have of blushing on the slightest provocation spoils your
whole appearance. Your complexion should always retain its healthy
whiteness, while--"
"You have been indulged quite sufficiently, Louis. Do you know, if you
often spoke to me in this manner I should soon hate you?"
"That would indeed be unfortunate. Never hate, Ruth; besides making
enemies, hate is an arch enemy to the face, distorting the softest and
loveliest."
"We cannot love people who calmly sit and irritate us like mocking
tarantulas."
"That is exaggerated, I think. Besides, Heaven forbid our loving
everybody! Never love, Ruth; let liking be strong enough for you. Love
only wears out the body and narrows the mind, all to no purpose. Cupid,
you know, died young, or wasted to plainness, for he never had his portrait
taken after he matured.
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