Wilton did not notice the alteration in him, but Flora observed it, and attributed it to some event that had happened, and had brought him sorrow; so she was more kind in her manner to him, and seemed to evince more interest in his conversation than she had ever before exhibited. There was no disguise in the joy which he displayed at this, but she saw in it nothing more than gratefulness for her endeavour to wile away moments he would otherwise have spent in sad thoughts. His flushed cheek and his increased excitement were not interpreted as he could have wished--for that he entertained for her the passion of love, was exactly the last thing she would have conceived respecting him. He sought, by all the experience he was master of, to increase and improve the opportunity afforded him in having the field to himself, of ingratiating himself in her good graces, and of winning her favour. But anxious as he was upon the point, he was afraid to declare himself, for fear of startling her timid nature--all unpractised in the world’s ways--and thus damage the cause he had at heart. A cause which he trusted to conduct to success by obtaining an influence over her, the insidious approaches of which should be so cautiously concealed, that she would be unable to detect them until she discovered herself in trammels from which she would be unable to get free. It is easy to lay plans for the capture of a woman’s heart. Artless, innocent, gentle, yielding, she may be; but even when those plans, matured by all that practised skill and experience can suggest, are put in operation, it is often found, at the moment of anticipated triumph, that the surrender of the heart depends solely on some condition which was omitted in the calculations upon which the plans were constructed. Women have strong instincts as well as large intuitive perceptions, not reducible to any known laws of reasoning. They dislike a certain man because they do, and suspect him from no more explainable cause. Now, this man may be well versed in the weaknesses of the fairer sex, and well acquainted with all the points upon which they are most susceptible and accessible, but if he has excited dislike and suspicion, however fair and clear his conduct may have been, he may just as well lay plans to capture the moon, in the expectation of being successful, as to lay siege to the heart of a woman who dislikes or suspects him, in anticipation of winning it.