"Why, Peter!" said Charmian, regarding me with grave eyes, "what
do you mean?"
"I mean that the country folk hereabout go out of their way to
avoid crossing my path--not that, I suppose, they ever heard of
Mina, but because of my looks."
"Your looks?"
"They think me possessed of the 'Evil Eye' or some such folly
--may I cut you a piece of bread?"
"Oh, Peter!"
"Already, by divers honest-hearted rustics, I am credited with
having cast a deadly spell upon certain unfortunate pigs, with
having fought hand to hand with the hosts of the nethermost pit,
and with having sold my soul to the devil--may I trouble you to
pass the butter?"
"Oh, Peter, how foolish of them!"
"And how excusable! considering their ignorance and superstition,"
said I. "Mine, I am well aware, is not a face to win me the heart
of man, woman, or child; they (especially women and children) share,
in common with dogs and horses, that divine attribute which, for
want of a better name, we call 'instinct,' whereby they love or
hate for the mere tone of a voice, the glance of an eye, the motion
of a hand, and, the love or hate once given, the prejudice for, or
against, is seldom wholly overcome."
"Indeed," said Charmian, "I believe in first impressions."
"Being a woman," said I.
"Being a woman!" she nodded; "and the instinct of dog and child
and woman has often proved true in the end."
"Surely instinct is always true?" said I--"I'd thank you for
another cup of tea--yet, strangely enough, dogs generally make
friends with me very readily, and the few children to whom I've
spoken have neither screamed nor run away from me. Still, as I
said before, I am aware that my looks are scarcely calculated to
gain the love of man, woman, or child; not that it matters
greatly, seeing that I am likely to hold very little converse
with either."
"There is one woman, Peter, to whom you have talked by the hour
together--"
"And who is doubtless weary enough of it all--more especially of
Epictetus and Trojan Helen."
"Two lumps of sugar, Peter?"
"Thank you! Women are very like flowers--" I began.
"That is a very profound remark, sir!--more especially coming
from one who has studied and knows womankind so deeply."
"--and it is a pity that they should be allowed to 'waste their
sweetness on the desert air.'"