Bear in mind that this young man with whom you are conversing
watches all your movements, studies all your looks, discusses and
interprets interiorly every word you speak; while treating with you
he plays the part of a cunning diplomatist whose wiles you happily
ignore; but in order to escape from becoming his dupe, prudence
should govern all your actions while in his company.
Remember that there are in the world manners, gestures and attitudes
that constitute a conventional language, but which hold nothing in
common with the genuine sentiments of the heart, being like a
counterfeit money which vanity pays and receives. It is one of the
most dangerous snares for a young girl whose simplicity and candor
are yet intact. Those qualities, so precious in themselves, are
sometimes prejudicial to her safety from the perfidy of a heart
already skilful in the art of deceiving. For, judging others by her
own heart, she cannot suspect those who converse with her of wicked
designs. She accepts all that is told her as the sincere expression
of the heart, and very often receives for a genuine affection what is
only hypocrisy and deception.
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