beautiful, sylph-like young woman--one whom I would
have looked at with complacency in any circumstances; for who that
admires the fair and the lovely in nature--whether it be the wide-spread
beauty of sky and earth, or beauty in its minuter modifications, as we
see it in the flowers that spring up at our feet, or the butterfly that
flutters over them--who, I say, that admires the fair and lovely in
nature, can be indifferent to the fairest and loveliest of all her
productions? As the mistress, however, of by far the strongest-minded
man I ever knew, there was more of scrutiny in my glance than usual, and
I felt a deeper interest in her than mere beauty could have awakened.
She was, perhaps, rather below than above the middle size; but formed in
such admirable proportion, that it seemed out of place to think of size
in reference to her at all. Who, in looking at the _Venus de Medicis_,
asks whether she be tall or short? The bust and neck were so exquisitely
moulded, that they reminded me of Burke's fanciful remark, viz., that
our ideas of beauty originate in our love of the sex, and that we
deem every object beautiful which is described by soft-waving lines,
resembling those of the female neck and bosom. Her feet and arms, which
were both bare, had a statue-like symmetry and marble-like whiteness;
but it was on her expressive and lovely countenance, now lighted up by
the glow of joyous feeling, that nature seemed to have exhausted her
utmost skill. There was a fascinating mixture in the expression of
superior intelligence and child-like simplicity; a soft, modest light
dwelt in the blue eye; and in the entire contour and general form of the
features, there was a nearer approach to that union of the straight and
the rounded, which is found in its perfection in only the Grecian face,
than is at all common in our northern latitudes, among the descendants
of either the Celt or the Saxon. I felt, however, as I gazed, that when
lovers meet, the presence of a third person, however much the friend of
either, must always be less than agreeable.

"Mr. Burns," I said, "there is a beautiful eminence a few hundred yards
to the right, from which I am desirous to overlook the windings of the
stream. Do permit me to leave you for a short half hour, when I shall
return; or, lest I weary you by my stay, 'twere better, perhaps, you
should join me there." My companion greeted the proposal with a
good-humoured smile of intelligence; and, plu