Her heart and moral nature were almost equally undeveloped. Hitherto
she had known but little experience tending to evoke gentle feeling
or generous action. She had confounded the few genuine admirers,
who, infatuated with her beauty, endowed her with all heavenly
graces, awaiting only the awakening hand of their love, with the
heartless or brainless fellows who were not particular about heavenly
graces, provided a girl had a fine figure and a fair face.
When the artist first met her at the concert garden, she was in
truth a modern Undine. She had feminine qualities and vices, but
not a woman's soul. She was not capable of any strong, womanly
action or feeling. Her scheme of life was simple indeed, although
she was learning to be very artful in carrying it out. It was to
have "a good time," as she would phrase it, and at any and every
cost to others. After wearying of the life of a belle, she proposed
to marry the best establishment that came her way, and became a
leader of fashion.
It would seem that not a few fine ladies carry out this simple scheme
of life, and never receive a woman's soul. There are Undines at
sixty as well as at sixteen.
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