She, indeed, looked not to the future. When present, his looks
and words occupied her whole attention; when absent, she thought
but of what had passed at their recent interview. She would
wander with him through the green lanes and rural scenes of the
vicinity. He taught her to see new beauties in Nature; he talked
in the language of polite and cultivated life, and breathed into
her ear the witcheries of romance and poetry.
Perhaps there could not have been a passion between the sexes
more pure than this innocent girl's. The gallant figure of her
youthful admirer and the splendor of his military attire might at
first have charmed her eye, but it was not these that had
captivated her heart. Her attachment had something in it of
idolatry. She looked up to him as to a being of a superior order.
She felt in his society the enthusiasm of a mind naturally
delicate and poetical, and now first awakened to a keen
perception of the beautiful and grand. Of the sordid distinctions
of rank and fortune she thought nothing; it was the difference of
intellect, of demeanor, of manners, from those of the rustic
society to which she had been accustomed, that elevated him in
her opinion. She would listen to him with charmed ear and
downcast look of mute delight, and her cheek would mantle with
enthusiasm; or if ever she ventured a shy glance of timid
admiration, it was as quickly withdrawn, and she would sigh and
blush at the idea of her comparative unworthiness.
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