Christian life; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Young women -- Conduct of life -- Fiction
Two days after her death, I received from her brother a promise of
protection to the heir of Lord Glendower, and permission, in case of
that event, to send the boy to his uncle, together with the pledges of
legitimacy, which constituted his sole hold upon the justice or
compassion of Mr Arnold. Fortunately for the poor infant, the question
upon which depended the tender cares of his uncle was decided in his
favour. Juliet's marriage was sanctioned; and though her death left Lord
Glendower at liberty to repair, in some sort, the injury which he had
done to Lady Maria, the rights of his first-born son could not be
transferred to the children of his more regular marriage.
When my cares were no longer necessary to my ill-fated companion, I
yielded to the kind persuasions of Miss Graham; and suffered her to
introduce me to whatever was most worthy of observation in a city which
I had as yet so imperfectly seen. Our mornings were generally spent in
examining the town or its environs; our evenings in a kind of society
which I had till now known only in detached specimens; a society in
which there was every thing to delight, though nothing to
astonish,--much good manners, and therefore little singularity,--general
information, and therefore little pedantry,--much good taste, and
therefore little notoriety. I could no longer complain that the ladies
were inaccessible. Introduced by Miss Graham, I was every where received
with more than courtesy; and I, who a few weeks before could scarcely
obtain permission to earn a humble subsistence, was now overwhelmed with
a hospitality which scarcely left me the command of an hour.
And now I was again assailed by the temptation which had formerly
triumphed unresisted. There is no place on earth where beauty is more
surely made dangerous to its possessor; and Charlotte and I could
scarcely have attracted more attention, had we appeared mounted upon
elephants. But I had lost my taste for admiration. I disliked the
constant watchfulness which it imposed upon me; and its pleasures poorly
compensated the pain of upbraiding myself the next moment with my folly
in being so pleased. As to open compliment, it cost me an effort to
answer it with good humour. 'The man suspects that I am vain,' thought
I, as often as I was so addressed; and the suspicion was too near truth
to be forgiven. The only real satisfaction which I derived from the
preposterous homage paid to me, arose from the new light in which it
displayed the generous nature of Charlotte Graham. Yes; trifles serve to
display a great mind; and there was true generosity in the graceful
willingness with which Charlotte, at a time of life when the
precariousness of attentions begin to give them value, withdrew from
competition with a rival inferior to her in every charm which is not
affected by seven years difference of age.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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