‘It was not in her nature. She doted on him.’
‘It would not be the nature of any woman who truly loved.’
Captain Harville smiled, as much as to say, ‘Do you claim that for your sex?’ and she answered the question, smiling also, ‘Yes. We certainly do not forget you as soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps, our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us. You are forced on exertion. You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately [...]’