esentment is the worst of defensive weapons: in the
hands of a man it is like a cow-hide shield opposed to Mauser bullets; in
the hands of a woman, like a parasol on a cloudy day. Since

Woman penetrates resentment by ridicule; man treats it with dull
indifference. And

A snub from a woman is never forgotten. And for two reasons: because

(a) The lord of creation hates to be floored by the jiu-jitsu of feminine
raillery; and because

(b) The last thing a man expects from a "ministering angel" is mundane
mockery. Besides,

Deliberate derision murders, not only affection, but admiration.

* * *

A blush needs no apologies. (Why? Because

Always a blush is spontaneous, uncontrollable; and

If there is any one thing a man likes to see, it is a spontaneous, an
uncontrollable action in woman.)

When the man has declared himself hers and hers alone; has given proof of
the truth of such declaration; has bound the woman to himself by terms
dictated by herself then, but not till then, the woman acts spontaneously
and without control; then she blushes. But

Seek not, impulsive masculine lover, to explore too many of the mysteries
of this thy feminine helpmeet. Perchance she feels herself so much above
thee that she blushes to give the herself. Perchance she regards thee so
much a symbol of the god-like, that she blushes for because she is not
more worthy. But far more probably she blushes for because she betrays
to thee a mortal, a divine and cosmic secret. For

There is a divine and cosmic secret hidden beneath every blush.

* * *

Ah! man, man, peccant, impulsive, passionate man, little knowest thou of
the divine and cosmic secret that underlies Love.

To thee, O man, it may be, 't is a momentary flash that irradiates the
world, and reveals for a moment a sky above that world;

To thee, O woman, 't is the reverberating thunder that, echoing, rolls
for ever after unceasing in thy ears. Is this why,

Between a man and a woman, a single look will sometimes change the
complexion of an intimacy of a life-time? And

Not until that look comes--not until eyes look into eyes with a
penetration supernatural--is acquaintanceship metamorphosed into love.

* * *

It is a favorite fiction amongst women that a rejected suitor either will
not marry or marries the first girl he meets. Because,

To marry another woman after having offered inalienable and unalterable
fidelity to one, would otherwise be a blow