As for her features, (though it was impossible to think of them, or anything about her as incorrect) they eluded while they fascinated him by their subtlety.

Lucia's beauty, in short, appealed to him, because it did not commit him to any irretrievable opinion.
But nothing, not even her beauty, pleased him better than the way in which she managed her intellect, divining by some infallible instinct how much of it was wanted by any given listener at a given time.

She had none of the nasty tricks that clever women have, always on the look out to go one better, and to catch you tripping.

Her lucidity was remarkable; but it served to show up other people's strong points rather than her own.

Lucia did not impress you as being clever, and Jewdwine, who had a clever man's natural distaste for clever women, admired his cousin's intellect, as well he might, for it was he who had taught her how to use it.