'She was, or thought she was, his friend--and this Without the farce of Friendship, or romance Of Platonism.' 'Few of the soft sex,' says Byron, 'are very stable in their resolves.' She had heard some parts of Juan's history; 'but women hear with more good humour such aberrations than we men of rigour': 'Adeline, in all her growing sense Of Juan's merits and his situation, Felt on the whole an interest intense-- Partly perhaps because a fresh sensation, Or that he had an air of innocence, Which is for Innocence a sad temptation-- As Women hate half-measures, on the whole, She 'gan to ponder how to save his soul.' After a deal of thought, 'she seriously advised him to get married.' 'There was Miss Millpond, smooth as summer's sea, That usual paragon, an only daughter, Who seemed the cream of Equanimity, Till skimmed--and then there was some milk and water, With a slight shade of blue too, it might be Beneath the surface.' The mention of Aurora Raby, to whom Juan in the first instance proposed, and by whom he was refused, suggests an incident in his life which is well known. Aurora was very young, and knew but little of the world's ways. In her indifference she confounded him with the crowd of flatterers by whom she was surrounded. Her mind appears to have been of a serious caste; with poetic vision she 'saw worlds beyond this world's perplexing waste,' and 'those worlds Had more of her existence; for in her There was a depth of feeling to embrace Thoughts, boundless, deep, but silent too as Space.' She had 'a pure and placid mien'; her colour was 'never high,' 'Though sometimes faintly flushed--and always clear As deep seas in a sunny atmosphere.' We cannot be positive, but perhaps Byron had Aurora Raby in his mind when he wrote: 'I've seen some balls and revels in my time, And stayed them over for some silly reason, And then I looked (I hope it was no crime) To see what lady best stood out the season; And though I've seen some thousands in their prime Lovely and pleasing, and who still may please on, I never saw but one (the stars withdrawn) Whose bloom could after dancing dare the Dawn.'[58]