thful
feeling--affection. I don't think we should trust to what they call
passion at all, Caroline. I believe it is a mere fire of dry sticks,
blazing up and vanishing. But we watch him, and see him kind to animals,
to little children, to poor people. He is kind to us likewise, good,
considerate. He does not flatter women, but he is patient with them, and
he seems to be easy in their presence, and to find their company genial.
He likes them not only for vain and selfish reasons, but as _we_ like
him--because we like him. Then we observe that he is just, that he
always speaks the truth, that he is conscientious. We feel joy and peace
when he comes into a room; we feel sadness and trouble when he leaves
it. We know that this man has been a kind son, that he is a kind
brother. Will any one dare to tell me that he will not be a kind
husband?"

"My uncle would affirm it unhesitatingly. 'He will be sick of you in a
month,' he would say."

"Mrs. Pryor would seriously intimate the same."

"Mrs. Yorke and Miss Mann would darkly suggest ditto."

"If they are true oracles, it is good never to fall in love."

"Very good, if you can avoid it."

"I choose to doubt their truth."

"I am afraid that proves you are already caught."

"Not I. But if I were, do you know what soothsayers I would consult?"

"Let me hear."

"Neither man nor woman, elderly nor young: the little Irish beggar that
comes barefoot to my door; the mouse that steals out of the cranny in
the wainscot; the bird that in frost and snow pecks at my window for a
crumb; the dog that licks my hand and sits beside my knee."

"Did you ever see any one who was kind to such things?"

"Did you ever see any one whom such things seemed instinctively to
follow, like, rely on?"

"We have a black cat and an old dog at the rectory. I know somebody to
whose knee that black cat loves to climb, against whose shoulder and
cheek it likes to purr. The old dog always comes out of his kennel and
wags his tail, and whines affectionately when somebody passes."

"And what does that somebody do?"

"He quietly strokes the cat, and lets her sit while he conveniently can;
and when he must disturb her by rising, he puts her softly down, and
never flings her from him roughly. He always whistles to the dog and
gives him a caress."

"Does he? It is not Robert?"

"But it is Robert."

"Handsome fellow!" said Shirley, with enthusiasm. Her eyes sparkled.

"Is he not handsome? Has he