Had a knife penetrated my flesh, I could not have winced
more than I did; still, I affected a manner that was very foreign to
my feelings.
"What do you think of this young Mr. Drewett, boy?" asked
Mr. Hardinge, with an air of confidential interest, and an earnestness
of manner, that, with him, was inseparable from all that concerned his
daughter. "Do you approve?"
"I believe I understand you, sir;--you mean me to infer that
Mr. Drewett is a suitor for Miss Hardinge's hand."
"It would be improper to say this much, even to you, Miles, did not
Drewett take good care, himself, to let everybody know it."
"Possibly with a view to keep off other pretenders"--I rejoined, with
a bitterness I could not control.
Now, Mr. Hardinge was one of the last men in the world to suspect
evil. He looked surprised, therefore, at my remark, and I was probably
not much out of the way, in fancying that he looked displeased.
"That is not right, my dear boy," he said, gravely.
"We should try to think the best and not the worst, of our
fellow-creatures."--Excellent old man, how faithfully didst thou
practise on thy precept!--"It is a wise rule, and a safe one; more
particularly in connection with our own weaknesses. Then, it is but
natural that Drewett should wish to secure Lucy; and if he adopt no
means less manly than the frank avowal of his own attachment, surely
there is no ground of complaint.
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