THE VIRGIN
77
we include
here ; for such a one at any rate is not a
true prostitute , rather
a poor
deluded girl , yearning
to love and be loved , romantic
and foolish , yet kind
hearted and charitable to a fault : often the plaything
of man , and oftener
the
means of livelihood of some
bad woman .
As Jenny wrapped
in
“ the homage of
the dim boudoir , ” was Nina ; one of that large flotsam
of fragile girlhood
which forms the better drift of vice ,
the first to be swallowed
in the social Maelstrom .
Yes : Nina was a thing of nought ,
A little laughing lewd gamine ,
Idle and vicious , void of thought ,
Easy , impertinent , unclean
Utterly charming ! Yes , my queen !
She had a generous baby soul,
Prattled of love .
Should I control ,
Repress , perhaps, the best instinct
The child had ever had ? I winked
At foolish neighbours , did not shirk .
Such café Turc I made her drink
As she had never had before ;
Set her where you are sitting ; chatted ;
Found where the fires of laug
ter lurk ;
Played with her hair , tangled and matted ;
Fell over strict nice conduct's brink ,
Gave
all
she would
,
and something more
.
She was
an
honest
little thing
,
Gave
of
her best
,
asked no response
.
What more could Heaven's immortal King
Censed with innumerous orisons
?1
What more indeed
!
Nina
is
charming
,
and we wish
we could say the
same
of
many
a
Society dame who
holds her breath each time she passes such
a
one
.
We
have
by
now certainly
slightly
diverged from
1
The Star and the Garter
,
vol
.
iii,
p
.
10.
Nina
is
not
a
prosti
tute
,
of
course
,
in
the commercial sense
.