Youth is not the age to seduce, it's the age to be seduced.
Men in the midst of a mid-life crisis would doubtless appreciate this statement by the author. After all, if one should not attempt seduction whilst one is young, by definition one's seducer has to be considerably older. This means that in general, Colette is a hearty supporter of older men dating younger women - and presumably vice versa, although at the time in which she was writing the concept of a woman having a toy boy would not even have been considered yet.
Colette believed that the art of seduction required a certain life experience and a degree of wisdom, neither of which are had by a younger person. It is almost always fun to be seduced. The young should enjoy the seduction, and allow themselves to be swept up in it if they are flattered by it, but they should not attempt it themselves. It is a role for those who have lived a little longer, and have developed seduction as an art, rather than as an act of hitting on someone and hoping that this is enough.
I did not look for her, because I was afraid of dispelling the mystery we attach to people whom we know only casually.
Colette enjoyed the mystery of wondering what a casual acquaintance was actually like when known better. She created an identity, a character, a set of likes and dislikes that she imagined the woman in question would have, and sometimes a series of conversations or "what ifs" surrounding a possible meeting or relationship. To reach out to the woman and to get her know her better might be enjoyable but it might also be a huge anti-climax, one that Colette did not want to experience, because the joy of thinking about the acquaintance and wondering what she might be like was a more guaranteed joy than getting to know her and rendering oneself disappointed.
