ll have been that the
temporary fascination might have ripened into love. But he was hurt,
and disgusted even more than hurt, by her manner, and observing her
with a watchful eye as she coquetted with his friend, he speedily came
to the conclusion that St. George was right in his estimate of _her_
character at least, although he now seemed to be flattered and amused
by her evident prepossession in his favor.

He had not, it is true, been deeply enough touched to feel either
pique or melancholy at this discovery, but was so far heart-whole as
to be rather inclined to laugh at the fickleness of the merry jilt,
than either to repine or to be angry.

He was by no means the man, however, to cast away the occasion of
pleasure; and walking with so beautiful and soft a creature as
Blanche, he naturally abandoned himself to the tide of the hour, and
in a little while found himself engaged in a conversation, which, if
less sparkling and brilliant, was a thousand times more charming than
that which he had yesterday held with her sister.

In a short time he had made the discovery that with regard to the
elder sister, too, his friend's penetration had exceeded his own; and
that beneath that calm and tranquil exterior there lay a deep and
powerful mind, stored with a treasury of the richest gems of thought
and feeling. He learned in that long woodland walk that she was,
indeed, a creature both to adore and to be adored; and he, too, like
St. George, was certain, that the happy man whom she should love,
would be loved for himself alone, with the whole fervor, the whole
truth, the whole concentrated passion of a heart, the flow of which
once unloosed, would be but the stronger for the restraint which had
hitherto confined it.

Erelong, as they reached the wider avenue, the two parties united, and
then, more than ever, he perceived the immense superiority in all
lovable, all feminine points, of the elder to the younger sister; for
Agnes, though brilliant and seemingly thoughtless and spirit-free as
ever, let fall full many a bitter word, many a covert taunt and hidden
sneer, which, with his eyes now opened as they were, he readily
detected, and which Blanche, as he could discover, even through her
graceful quietude, felt, and felt painfully.

They reached the Hall at length, and were duly welcomed by its master;
refreshments were offered and accepted--and the young men were invited
to return often, and a day was fixed on which the