close the talk of

elegance before encompassing as much of it as can be encompassed. So we add further that elegance, like all things, divides into kinds. One kind is inborn: it is born with the woman and penetrates every atom of her being, and from this kind comes the highest ideal of woman, and the highest ideals of the beloved, the wife, the mother, and the sister in the eye of complete manhood.

This kind of inborn elegance is very rare, and you can distinguish it quickly, for it needs no veils of "retouches." It is the frank elegance that says to us: Pardon — this is how I am, and how I shall remain; so it is better not to misunderstand and not to guess overmuch. Take me as I am; let this suffice you of me, and enough.

The woman whom God has singled out with this kind of elegance is the pearl of society gatherings and clubs, and perhaps it was she whom Solomon the Wise meant in the Song of Songs: The virtuous woman — where shall you find her? If you find her, she is more precious than silver and gold.

The second kind is acquired elegance. This, contrary to the first, is not born with the woman but grows as she grows and takes root in her soul through repetition; it forms a part of the social refinement whose principles a woman is taught at home, at school, in society, and in the street, and long practice and constant alertness are employed to obtain it.

Yet each of these two kinds has its magic and its charm, and each has its followers and its devotees. And if nature, Madam, has favored you above all people with the magic of inborn elegance, then happy the gathering that brings you in, and happy the man you love, or dance with, or converse with.

But beware of despair if nature has been sparing with you in that, for there is always the second kind — acquired elegance — and it awaits everyone who will take it by the hand.

Or do you not see, after all, that acquired elegance has a delight all its own — the delight of the striver who conquers? So strive in the cause of elegance as much as you will, and enjoy, Madam, the laurel crown.