In Book 2, it is Aurora’s 20th birthday, and she is crowning herself “in sport, not pride” (Line 34) with a poet’s wreath of ivy, rather than the traditional laurel. Her solemn cousin, Romney, who has come to return a book of Greek to her, oversees the festivities and goes so far as to discourage her poetic ambitions, claiming that Aurora understands little and is hardened to the suffering that permeates the human condition. Romney, in contrast, believes that he feels this keenly, for he states, “My soul is gray / with pouring over the long sum of ill” (Lines 308-09). When Romney proposes marriage, Aurora esteems her cousin but rejects his proposal, arguing that she is unfit to share his “noble” social work and “otherwise conceive[s] of love” (Line 405). To his suggestion that she would have responded favorably to overtures, Aurora replies insouciantly, “[Y]ou’ll grant that even a woman may love art / Seeing that to waste true love on anything / Is womanly, past question” (Lines 494-96).

Romney temporarily fades from the narrative, and Aurora is reprimanded by her aunt, who reminds her that she lacks the means to pursue an independent career and must marry Romney in order to gain access to an inheritance.