Those boys and girls among the people who mean to marry
sooner or later, but who do not dislike a kiss or two in advance, know
no spot where they can kiss at their ease without exposing themselves to
recognition and gossip. Accordingly, while strolling about the suburbs,
the plots of waste land, the footpaths of the high road--in fact,
all these places where there are few passers-by and numerous shady
nooks--they conceal their identity by wrapping themselves in these long
cloaks, which are capacious enough to cover a whole family. The parents
tolerate these proceedings; however stiff may be provincial propriety,
no apprehensions, seemingly, are entertained. And, on the other hand,
nothing could be more charming than these lovers' rambles, which appeal
so keenly to the Southerner's fanciful imagination. There is a veritable
masquerade, fertile in innocent enjoyments, within the reach of the most
humble. The girl clasps her sweetheart to her bosom, enveloping him in
her own warm cloak; and no doubt it is delightful to be able to kiss
one's sweetheart within those shrouding folds without danger of being
recognised. One couple is exactly like another. And to the belated
pedestrian, who sees the vague groups gliding hither and thither, 'tis
merely love passing, love guessed and scarce espied. The lovers
know they are safely concealed within their cloaks, they converse in
undertones and make themselves quite at home; most frequently they do
not converse at all, but walk along at random and in silence, content
in their embrace.
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