It is on chance, I suppose, that the effect of such things depends.

Had the saying been thrown at any of Eunane's equals, I should probably have been inclined to laugh, even if I felt it necessary to reprimand.

But, angered at a hint which placed Eveena on their own level, I forgot how far the speaker's experience and inexperience alike palliated the impertinence.

That the insinuation shocked none of those around me was evident.

Theirs were not the looks of women, however young and thoughtless, startled by an affront to their sex; but of children amazed at a child's folly in provoking capricious and irresponsible power.