Persistence alone may win a woman where all other means fail. She may
dream of an ideal lover and vainly wait for his appearance for several
years; and in the meantime the image of her ever-present suitor will
become brighter and more inviting in her mind. For is not perseverance,
is not unflagging devotion to a single aim, one of the noblest of manly
attributes, a guarantee of success in life and the highest test of
genuine passion?
Perseverance may neutralise more than one refusal.
“Have you not heard it said full oft
A woman’s nay doth stand for naught?”
asks Shakspere; and Byron teaches that she
“Who listens once will listen twice;
Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,
And one refusal no rebuff.”
The fact that a proposal is the sincerest compliment a man can pay a
woman, contributes not a little to make a second proposal more
acceptable. A third should rarely be attempted. The first proposal may
have been refused more from momentary embarrassment than from real
indifference. The second, being weighted by reflection, is generally
final, though numerous exceptions have occurred; yet in such cases it is
probable that the woman gives her hand without her heart, having at last
discovered that her heart is impervious to all Love. There are hundreds
of thousands of such women, and some of them are very sweet and pretty.
The fault lies in their shallow education.