men." Pauline, by mutual parental head-nodding, is thrown much into the society of young Beauvais (who tells the story), a wealthy banker's son. His description of the girl forms the passage alluded to above:
"Pauline de Charmilles was not a shy girl, but
by this I do not mean it to be in the least imagined
that she was bold. On the contrary, she had
merely that quick brightness and esprit which is
the happy heritage of so many Frenchwomen, none
of whom think it necessary to practice or assume
the chilly touch-me-not diffidence and unbecoming
constraint which make the young English "mees"
such a tame and tiresome companion to men of
sense and humor. She was soon perfectly at her
ease with me, and became prettily garrulous and
confidential, telling me stories of her life at Lausanne,
describing the loveliness of the scenery on
Lake Leman, and drawing word-portraits of her
teachers and schoolmates with a facile directness
and point that brought them at once before the
mind's eye as though they were actually present."
Pauline's ingenuousness and alluring looks quickly
enslave young Beauvais. He cannot understand
the reason of this fascination. He quite realizes
that she is a bread-and-butter schoolgirl, and "a
mere baby in thought," but—she is beautiful. So,
having granted that the net in which he finds himself
immeshed is purely a physical one, he thus
descants on the reasonableness of his fall:
