he stopped a few steps away from her , looking at her , but seeing her as she had looked long ago-a young goddess in royal blue , descending a staircase , aloof , untouchable ; an angry angel defying a roomful of men in a card room ; a beguiling temptress in a woodcutter 's cottage , lifting her wet hair in front of the fire-and at the end , a frightened girl thrusting flowerpots into his hands to keep him from kissing her .