The speaker is a woman caught in an old romantic game. Her lover is “male and proper-man”—a conventional man who enjoys pursuing what he wants. Because he likes the chase, she feels she must hide her own desire and keep her feelings from showing on her face. She calls this “cheat as women can,” which gives the lines a knowing, slightly bitter edge: she has to play a role, pretending to run even though she already wants him.
The final couplet sharpens that irony. She reflects that it is foolish to run when she is, in the end, already caught—whether caught by love, by him, or by the rules of the game. The mood is wry and resigned rather than romantic, like a quiet, clear-eyed protest against the performance expected of women in love.