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6

"Did you, indeed?"

"My balcony commands an extensive view. Your rose-coloured dress w^as plainly to be seen, as you went along the meadows and fields. You followed the path that skirts the ditch, did you not? And so on to the wood, where you disappeared. I followed on horseback along the highroad: a far shorter way."

"Yes, your way; straight on, but less picturesque than mine."

"Am I to see some hidden meaning in this?"

"Oh, no, you need not—as you choose."

Janusz is of those who love "intellectual" talk; I put forth all the social tact that I have, and do my best to keep down to his level. I strive to attract him, not with my good looks, but with my mental charms, which I have now enlisted in the service of my physical self. My coquetry varies in quality as does the psychical character of its object; and thus it never fails in artistry. Here I am guided by the Law of Contrast. For instance, when I first flirted with Roslawski, I brought into play the primitive elemental sides of my nature; though indeed I had later to change all my tactics. And it is my quality as a