Camilla; or, A Picture of Youth — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Camilla; or, A Picture of Youth
John Stuart Mill · en
Sir Hugh gravely paused at these speeches, and regarded them in turn
with much steadiness, as if settling their future destinies; but ever
unable to keep a single thought to himself, he presently burst forth
aloud with his new mental arrangement, saying: 'Well, my dears, well;
this is not quite the thing I had taken a fancy to in my own private
brain, but it's all for the best, there's no doubt; though the estate
being just in my neighbourhood, would have made it more suitable for
Camilla; I mean provided we could have bought, among us, the odd three
miles between the Parks; which how many acres they make, I can't pretend
to say, without the proper calculation; but if it was all joined, it
would be the finest domain in the county, as far as I know to the
contrary: nevertheless, my dear young Mr. Mandlebert, you have a right
to choose for yourself; for as to beauty, 'tis mere fancy; not but what
Indiana has one or other the prettiest face I ever saw, though I think
Camilla's so much prettier; I mean in point of winningness. However,
there's no fear as to my consent, for nothing can be a greater pleasure
to me than having two such good girls, both being cousins, live so near
that they may overlook one another from park to park, all day long, by
the mode of a telescope.'
Edgar, perfectly understanding him, blushed deeply, and, forgetting what
he had just declared, offered his grapes to Lavinia. Indiana, conceiving
herself already mistress of so fine a place, smiled with approving
complacency; and the rest were too much occupied with the objects around
them, to listen to so long a speech.
They then all moved on; but, soon after, Lionel, flying up to his
uncle's chair, informed Camilla he had just heard from the gardener,
that only half a mile off, at Northwick, there was a fair, to which he
begged she would ask to go. She found no difficulty in obliging him; and
Sir Hugh was incapable of hesitating at whatever she could desire. The
carriage and the horses for the boys were again ordered, and to the
regret of only Edgar and Indiana, the beautiful plantations of Beech
Park were relinquished for the fair.
They had hardly proceeded twenty yards, when the smiles that had
brightened the face of Lavinia, the eldest daughter of Mr. Tyrold, were
suddenly overcast, giving place to a look of dismay, which seemed the
effect of some abruptly painful recollection; and the moment Sir Hugh
perceived it, and enquired the cause, the tears rolled fast down her
cheeks, and she said she had been guilty of a great sin, and could never
forgive herself.
They all eagerly endeavoured to console her, Camilla fondly taking her
hand, little Eugenia sympathetically crying over and kissing her,
Indiana begging to know what was the matter, and Sir Hugh, holding out
to her the finest peach from his stores for Camilla, and saying, 'Don't
cry so, my dear, don't cry: take a little bit of peach; I dare say you
are not so bad as you think for.'