As far as her character was concerned, she herself knew very
little of it, and would probably have found herself very much
embarrassed if called upon to explain what character meant. She
was new and the world was very old. The nuns had told her that she
must never care for the world, which was a very sinful place, full
of thorns, ditches, pitfalls and sinners, besides the devil and
his angels. Her sister Flavia, on the contrary, assured her that
the world was very agreeable, when mamma happened to go to sleep
in a corner during a ball; that all men were deceivers, but that
when a man danced well it made no difference whether he were a
deceiver or not, since he danced with his legs and not with his
conscience; that there was no happiness equal to a good cotillon,
and that there were a number of these in every season; and,
finally, that provided one did not spoil one's complexion one
might do anything, so long as mamma was not looking.
To Donna Faustina, these views, held by the nuns on the one hand
and by Flavia on the other, seemed very conflicting. She would
not, indeed, have hesitated in choosing, even if she had been
permitted any choice; for it was clear that, since she had seen
the convent side of the question, it would be very interesting to
see the other.
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