A sentence from <the box tunnel> [closed]

I am reading a novel By Charles Reade. In the first paragraph, there is a sentence that I can't understand, the text is :"The 10:15 train glided from Paddington May 7, 1847. In the left compartment of a certain first-class carriage were four passengers; of these two were worth description. The lady had a smooth, white, delicate brow, strongly marked eyebrows, long lashes, eyes that seemed to change colour, and a good-sized, delicious mouth, with teeth as white as milk. A man could not see her nose for her eyes and mouth; her own sex could, and would have told us some nonsense about it. "

what's the meaning of "A man could not see her nose for her eyes and mouth; her own sex could, and would have told us some nonsense about it. "

thx

The normal meaning of "Could not see X for Y" is that Y is obscuring X and preventing you from seeing it. In this case eyes and mouth would not be literally obscuring the nose, so it is not a literal meaning. The next sentence indicates that women could describe, and so presumably see, the nose, and that "men" therefore probably means only males. Men and women see her differently.

Based on this we might deduce that the first sentence is related to sexual attraction. Probably the intended meaning is that the eyes and mouth so draw the attention of men that they never notice - never see - her nose.