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Rh thing—sweet, genuine, and wholesome. But at least the ideas of these pseudo-English girls are correct. They are not flirts"—Sir Archy classed flirts as the feminine form of barnburners and horse thieves—"and there 's nothing clandestine in their way of arranging marriages. They are quite candid and correct in that matter. They receive the attentions of men properly, and when an engagement is made, it is duly and promptly announced. But my cousin, Miss Corbin, has the most extraordinary notions on the subject of the proprieties. She goes according to the rule of contrary. She thinks it no harm to make eyes at every man she sees, without caring a button about any one of them—and an engagement is a thing to be concealed as if it were something to be ashamed of. I confess it puzzles me."

"And it puzzles me, too," replied Ethel. "Of course I know how sincerely high minded Miss Corbin is, but, like you, I can't reconcile myself to her peculiar notions. Do you remember the evening we went to the theater in New York and she wore that astonishing white gown?"

"Yes—and uncommonly pretty she looked.