Explore "The Cords of Vanity" by James Branch Cabell on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
When I first knew Stella she was within a month of being fifteen, which is for womankind an unattractive age. There were a startling number of corners to her then, and she had but vague notions as to the management of her hands and feet. In consequence they were perpetually turning up in unexpected places and surprising her by their size and number. Yes, she was very hopelessly fifteen; and she was used to laugh, unnecessarily, in a nervous fashion, approximating to a whinny, and when engaged in conversation she patted down her skirts six times to the minute.
It seems oddly unbelievable when I reflect that Rosalind -- "daughter to the banished Duke" -- and Stella and Helen of Troy, and all the other famous fair ones of history, were each like that at one period or another.