, instead of being
discouraged or mortified, he showed imperturbable confidence and
good-humor, and begged archly to know what interesting object was in
sight from that window. On this she blushed and withdrew her eyes from
the window, and so they met his. On that he threw himself on his knees,
(custom of the day,) and wooed her with such a burst of passionate and
tearful eloquence that she began to pity him, and said, lifting her
lovely eyes,--

"Alas! I was born to make all those I esteem unhappy!" and she sighed
deeply.

"Not a bit of it," said he; "you were born, like the sun, to bless all
you shine upon. Sweet Mistress Kate, I love you as these country boors
can never be taught to love. I lay my heart, my name, my substance, at
your feet; you shall not be loved,--you shall be worshipped. Ah! turn
those eyes, brimful of soul, on me again, and let me try and read in
them that one day, no matter how distant, the delight of my eyes, the
joy of all my senses, the pride of Cumberland, the pearl of England, the
flower of womankind, the rival of the angels, the darling of George
Neville's heart, will be George Neville's wife."

Fire and water were in his eyes, passion in every tone; his manly hand
grasped hers and trembled, and drew her gently towards him.

Her bosom heaved; his passionate male voice and touch electrified her,
and made her flutter.

"Spare me this pain," she faltered; and she looked through the window
and thought, "Poor Griffith was right, after all, and I was wrong. He
had cause for jealousy, and CAUSE FOR FEAR."

And then she pitied him who panted at her side, and then she was sorry
for him who rode away disconsolate, still lessening to her eye; and what
with this conflict and the emotion her quarrel with Griffith had
already caused her, she leaned her head back against the shutter, and
began to sob low, but almost hysterically.

Now Mr. George Neville was neither a fool nor a novice, if he had never
been downright in love before, (which I crave permission to doubt,) he
had gone far enough on that road to make one Italian lady, two French,
one Austrian, and one Creole, in love with him; and each of these
love-affairs had given him fresh insight into the ways of woman.
Enlightened by so many bitter-sweet experiences, he saw at once that
there was something more going on inside Kate's heaving bosom than he
could have caused by offering her his hand. He rose from his knees and
leaned against the op