Before Helen and Arthur are officially engaged, Helen notices Arthur paying special attention to Annabella and hides from the pair to cry. When Arthur finds her, he assures her that he loves her and not Annabella, using a simile and a metaphor to communicate the difference in his feelings for the two women:

“Annabella Wilmot, in comparison with you, is like a flaunting peony compared with a sweet, wild rosebud gemmed with dew – and I love you to distraction!”

In comparing Annabella to a “flaunting peony” (via a simile) and Helen to a “sweet, wild rosebud” (via a metaphor), Arthur indicates that he believes Annabella is ostentatious and showy while Helen is beautiful in a more natural and refined way. Beneath this comparison is the implication that Arthur respects and loves Helen much more deeply than he does Annabella. As becomes clear later in the novel, however, Arthur is using these words to manipulate Helen—he is actually very attracted to Annabella and goes on to have an affair with her over the course of several years.

This moment also subtly foreshadows the interaction between Helen and Gilbert at the end of the novel in which she gives him a rose as a symbol for her heart. While Arthur compares Helen to a rose in an attempt to manipulate and control her, Helen takes back her power by comparing her own heart to a rose and giving it to the man who is truly deserving of it.