“In ye arte of courting, it is often ye woman her eyes that settle ye man his fate, But if ye woman her eyes are not beautiful, she must not court with them but with other members of ye woman her body.  Ye greatest use of ye ugly eyes is to see but not be seen.  If ye try to court with ye ugly eyes, ye scare ye man away or make him to feel sick; and ye will be sorry.  Ye eyes must be beautiful and ye eyes must have some mystery.  They must not be like ye windows of ye house in summer when ye curtains are taken down and ye shutters are taken off.  As ye man stands outside he must want to see all that is within, but he must not be able.  What ye man loves ye woman for is ye mystery in her; if ye woman contain no mystery, let her marry if she must; but not aspire to court. (This is enough for ye stingy price ye pay:  if ye had paid more money, ye would have received more instruction.)”

Marguerite thought it very little instruction for any money.  She felt disappointed and provoked.  She passed on to “Clothes.”  “What can she teach me on that subject?” she thought.

“When ye court with ye clothes, ye must not lift ye dress above ye ankle bone.”

“Then I know what kind of ankle bone she had,” said Marguerite, bitter for revenge on Lady Bluefields.

“Ye clothes play a greate part in ye arte of courtinge.”

Marguerite turned the leaf; but she found that the other pages on the theme were too thumbed and faint to be legible.

She looked into the subject of “Hands”:  learning where the palms should be turned up and when turned down; the meaning of a crooked forefinger, and of full moons rising on the horizons of the finger nails; why women with freckled hands should court bachelors.  Also how the feet, if of such and such sizes and configurations, must be kept as “ye two dead secrets.”  Similarly how dimples must be born and not made—­with a caution against “ye dimple under ye nose” (reference to “Big Booke”—­well worth the money, etc.).

When she reached the subject of the kiss, Marguerite thought guiltily of the library steps.

“Ye kiss is ye last and ye greatest act in all ye lovely arte of courtinge.  Ye eyes, ye hair, ye feet, ye dimple, ye whole trunk, are of no account if they do not lead up to ye kiss.  There are two kinds of ye kiss:  ye kiss that ye give and ye kiss that ye take.  Ye kiss that ye take is ye one ye want.  Ye woman often wishes to give ye man one but cannot; and ye man often wishes to take one (or more) from ye woman but cannot; and between her not being able to give and his not being able to take, there is suffering enough in this ill-begotten and ill-sorted world.  Ye greatest enemy of ye kiss that ye earth has ever known is ye sun; ye greatest friend is ye night.

“Ye most cases where ye woman can take ye kiss are put down in ye ‘Big Booke.’