What does this mean??

[allegretto]

I am reading a book by a favourite author of mine and I keep on rereading this paragraph and it actually makes no sense to me! I'm beginning to wonder if my mind is going! Would anyone care to explain it? Extra brownie points for identifying the book!

Elfride’s emotions were sudden as his in kindling, but the least of woman’s lesser infirmities—love of admiration—caused an inflammable disposition on his part, so exactly similar to her own, to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her.

It's Thomas Hardy, I bet!

He needed a bloody good editor!

Looks like the author had a lot of fancy words and he/she wanted to use them all at once! That makes no sense!

Is it Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes?

I think it means that they were bith vain enough to enjoy the fact that someone they admired admired them back.

Elfride’s emotions were sudden as his in kindling,

• kindling is the twigs you'd rub together to start a fire, so he's comparing the speed of his emotions with the spark involved in starting a fire

but the least of woman’s lesser infirmities—love of admiration—

• her love of admiration (vanity) is her downfall

caused an inflammable disposition on his part, so exactly similar to her own, to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her.

• I'm struggling with this bit!

Jcscot - yes! I like your precis. Glad I'm not the only one struggling - I get halfway through the last sentence and my eyes slide off the page.

It's Thomas Hardy, I bet! yes

I think it is saying that both 'him' and Elfrida:

• both wish to be desired
• which makes them both emotional
• and so here, both have become emotional quickly

but, whilst it's a sign of weakness in her it's an admirable quality in him

I could be barking up the wrong tree, however!

kindling is the twigs you'd rub together to start a fire, so he's comparing the speed of his emotions with the spark involved in starting a fire

But that can take ages! You only have to watch Bear Gryll's The Island to see how difficult it is to light a fire like that

I quite like Hardy but that bit is bloody awful. I agree with MyBrilliantDisguise

I think it means that because she's a woman she should be modest about the fact that he fancies her but it's fine for the man to be smug that she fancies him!

Elfrides emotions were sudden in their manifestation. Love of admiration, the least damning of a woman's bad qualities, caused his disposition to react like a match as his personality was very like hers. Though vanity was admirable in him it was condemning in her.

... I think, roughly

But honestly it's like translating French ... you know all the words but maybe it means something entirely different to a native