How to interpret this sentence?
Her starry eyes gained a more significant expression;her skin(that feature which had always been her greatest pride and most anxious care) was dazzling:it could not be compared to the peach or to the flower;it was they that demanded comparison with it.
The last part baffled me,"it was they that demanded comparison with it",could anyone kindly make it more clear?Many thanks.

Question

Answer

The "they" refers to the peach and the flower.
The "it" refers to her skin.

Which gives us the phrase "; it was the peach and the flower that demanded comparison with her skin."

The meaning here is that the woman's skin is the perfect object that everything else should be compared to, because it is more beautiful than a peach or a flower.

Does that help?