f
marriage, and endeavouring as far as he could to give her confidence in
the stability of his character. How exceedingly awkward he felt it to
be to have to write this instead of saying it. How incomparably better
such things are done by word of mouth, particularly when one is not a
ready and clever letter-writer. He would in the personal interview have
felt the effect of one sentence before he ventured on another--he would
have assisted his halting phrases by all the advantages of tone,
gesture, and expression of countenance. Though he had failed once in
his attempt to win her affections, he had been far more stupid than he
was now, and he was now more anxious for success. The more he had
thought over the person, the manners, and the character of Elsie
Melville, the more convinced he was that she was the one woman in the
world for him; but he was by no means so sanguine of being accepted as
he had been, particularly when he had only the pen to trust to. There
was no saying what so clever and so literary a girl as Elsie Melville
was would think of his blundering declaration. The paper looked cold
and blank and uninviting--it really was hard to make it the only means
of telling her how much he loved her. No kind wishes towards the
overseer whose fears and scruples had hurried him away, or towards Miss
Phillips, who had interrupted him when he was about to say something he
had hoped Elsie could not mistake, accompanied the half-dozen different
attempts at a love-letter, which were written before he could please
himself. Emily was his friend; Jane, he thought, would be his friend
too. Elsie was really a kind-hearted girl, and if he could only
convince her that he would be miserable if she refused him, she might
pity him a little. He had not the same objections to a little pity that
she had on that day in the railway carriage, when he had been so
confident of success. But when he reflected on what Peggy might have
said with truth about him, and when he put to that the fact that
immediately after his refusal by Elsie he had devoted himself to Miss
Phillips, there was no doubt that Elsie had some cause to suspect the
steadiness of his principles. It was difficult by writing to hint at
these things without saying too much, but they must not be passed over
in silence either.

At last the letter was written and committed to the country post-office
nearest to Barragong--not that he was satisfied with it, but he must
not lose th