a desire to become acquainted with
Elsie also; so that Mr. Brandon had come sooner than he had intended,
and proposed an early departure. Elsie looked so glad, so very glad to
see him; expressed herself so grateful to him for all the trouble he
was taking for her; and after asking for Jane and the Phillipses, began
to inquire about his own relations, and how he had enjoyed his visit to
Ashfield, with so much interest, that Mr. Brandon thought her manner
more pleasant than ever.

Chapter IV.

Elsie Refuses An Excellent Offer

Mr. Brandon had come home with the intention of marrying, and had
flirted a good deal during the six or eight months of his stay in
England, but he had seen so many young ladies that one had driven
another out of his head. He thought he might have fallen in love with
Miss Harriett Phillips, who, though not very young, would in all other
respects be very suitable, and who, he had no doubt, would accept him;
but still he could not manage to cultivate an attachment strong enough
to warrant such a desperate step as a proposal. Ever since he had seen
Elsie Melville at Mrs. Rennie's party, her face and form, and her
pleasant voice with its Scotch accent, recurred more frequently in his
thoughts than those of any woman he had seen. Her elegance, her
gentleness, her sprightliness, had struck him at sight, and her forlorn
condition was very interesting. Her poetical talents, of which he had
heard from Peggy, impressed him a good deal, and the manner in which
she had taken so industriously to the only means of earning a
livelihood open to her, though one which was so far beneath her, had
certainly called forth his respect.

The sight of Elsie again, though in diminished beauty, revived all
those sentiments of compassion and protection that he had felt for her
from first hearing of her misfortunes. Yes, he would marry her, and
then she would grow rosy and happy; and he would get her poems
published at his own expense, and have such a splendid copy for herself
to lay on her drawing-room table--for she should have a drawing-room at
Barragong, and every comfort, and even luxury, that Victoria in those
days could afford. He never would be ashamed to take Elsie to see any
of his friends or relatives, for she was a gentlewoman born and bred.
As for her being a milliner for the present, it was only so much the
more to be proud of.

These thoughts lay in Brandon's mind, and strengthened every day of his