rightly and interesting. After
dinner she retired, and her father requested Theodore and Bonville to
withdraw with him to a private room. After they were seated, the old
gentleman thus addressed them:

"I have called you here, gentlemen, to perform my duty as a parent to my
daughter, and as a friend to you. You have both addressed Alida; while
your addresses were merely formal, they were innocent; but when they
became serious, they were dangerous. Your pretensions I consider equal,
and between honourable pretenders, who are worthy of my daughter,
I shall not attempt to influence her choice. That choice, however, can
rest only on one; she has engaged to decide between you. I am come, to
make in her name this decision. The following are my terms: no
difficulty shall arise between you, gentlemen, in consequence of her
determination; nothing shall go abroad respecting the affair; it shall
be settled under my roof. As soon as I have pronounced Alida's
declaration, you shall both depart, and absent my house for at least two
weeks, as it would be improper for my daughter to see either of you at
present; after that period I shall be happy to receive your visits."
Theodore and Bonville pledged their honour to abide implicitly by these
injunctions.

He then further observed: "This, gentlemen, is all I require. I have
said that I considered your pretensions equal; so has my daughter
treated them. You have both made professions to her; she has appointed a
time to answer you. That time has now arrived, and I now inform
you--that she has decided in favour of Theodore."

These words from Alida's father, burst upon the mental powers of
Bonville like sudden and tremendous thunder on the deep and sullen
silence of night. Unaccustomed to disappointment, he had calculated on
assured success. His addresses to the ladies generally had been
honourably received. Alida was the first whose charms were capable of
rendering them sincere. He was not ignorant of Theodore's attentions to
her; it gave him, however, but little uneasiness. He believed that his
superior acquired graces would eclipse the pretensions of his rival. He
considered himself a connoisseur in character, especially in that of the
ladies. He conformed to their taste; he flattered their foibles, and
obsequiously bowed to the minutia of female volatility. He considered
himself skilled in the language of the heart; and he trusted that from
his pre-eminent powers in the science of a