The elder of the two might have been--no matter--not over twenty-three
or four at any rate; while the younger was certainly not over eighteen
or nineteen. There was a good deal of similarity in their styles; both
were brunettes; both had abundance of dark, lustrous hair; both had
those dark, hazel eyes which can send such a thrill to the soul of the
impressible. For my part I thrilled, I glowed, I exulted, I rejoiced
and triumphed in the adventure which had led to such a discovery as
this. Were there any other women in Canada, in America, or in the
world, equal to them? I did not believe there were. And then their
voices--low--sweet--musical--voices which spoke of the exquisite
refinement of perfect breeding; those voices would have been enough to
make a man do or dare any thing.
Between them, however, there were some differences. The elder had an
expression of good-natured content, and there was in her a vein of fun
which was manifest, while the younger seemed to have a nature which was
more intense and more earnest, and there was around her a certain
indefinable reserve and _hauteur_.
Which did I admire most?
I declare it's simply impossible to say. I was overwhelmed. I was
crushed with equal admiration. My whole soul became instinct with the
immortal sentiment--How happy could I be with either! while the
cordiality of my reception, which made me at once a friend of this
jewel of a family, caused my situation to assume so delicious an aspect
that it was positively bewildering.