She took kisses like so many coats of paint {…} how long and how vainly I searched for excuses which might make her amorality if not palatable at lest understandable. I realize now the time I wasted in this way; instead of enjoying her and turning aside from these preoccupations with the thought, 'She is untrustworthy as she is beautiful. She takes love as plants do water, lightly, thoughtlessly.
In this excerpt, the narrator reflects on a woman who appears to take love as casually as coats of paint, emphasizing her superficial approach to relationships. He admits to spending a lot of time justifying her behavior, trying to find reasons for her amorality, even if he couldn't fully accept or understand it. His attempts to rationalize her actions ultimately waste his energy and distract him from enjoying her true nature.
The narrator recognizes his earlier misguided effort to justify her lighthearted attitude toward love, describing her as both beautiful and untrustworthy. He concludes that her way of taking love so lightly is similar to how plants absorb water—thoughtless and effortless—highlighting her lack of seriousness and the superficiality of her affections. This realization leads him to see the futility of his previous preoccupations.
