compliment to her dress is the most acceptable one that she can
receive. She probably takes it as a tribute to her good taste, which
is one of woman's chief prerogatives."

I resolved to explore farther, and continued:

"A lady's dress is like the binding of a book--it ought to be
suggestive of her character. Indeed, she can make it a tasteful
expression of herself. Our eye is often attracted or repelled by a
book's binding. When it has been made with a fine taste, so that it
harmonizes with the subject under consideration, we are justly
pleased; but neither you nor I believe in the people who value books
for the sake of their covers only. Beauty and richness of thought,
treasures of varied truth, sparkling wit, droll humor, or downright
earnestness are the qualities in books that hold our esteem. A book
must have a soul and life of its own as truly as you or I; and the
costliest materials, the wealth of a kingdom, cannot make a true book
any more than a perfect costume and the most exquisite combination of
flesh and blood can make a true woman." (I wondered if she were
listening to me; for her face was taking on an absent look. Conscious
that my homily was growing rather long, I concluded.) "The book that
reveals something new, or puts old truths in new and interesting
lights--the book that makes us wiser, that cheers, encourages,
comforts, amuses, and makes a man forget his stupid, miserable self,
is the book we tie to. And so a man might well wish himself knotted to
a woman who could do as much for him, and he would naturally be
pleased to have her outward garb correspond with her spiritual beauty
and worth."

My fair ideal had also reached a momentous conclusion, for she said,