When at last the nature of his proposal flashed upon
her pure mind, the effect was withering. She did not weep; she
did not break forth into reproach; she said not a word, but she
shrunk back aghast as from a viper, gave him a look of anguish
that pierced to his very soul, and, clasping her hands in agony,
fled, as if for refuge, to her father's cottage.
The officer retired confounded, humiliated, and repentant. It is
uncertain what might have been the result of the conflict of his
feelings, had not his thoughts been diverted by the bustle of
departure. New scenes, new pleasures, and new companions soon
dissipated his self-reproach and stifled his tenderness; yet,
amidst the stir of camps, the revelries of garrisons, the array
of armies, and even the din of battles, his thoughts would
sometimes steal back to the scenes of rural quiet and village
simplicity--the white cottage, the footpath along the silver
brook and up the hawthorn hedge, and the little village maid
loitering along it, leaning on his arm and listening to him with
eyes beaming with unconscious affection.
The shock which the poor girl had received in the destruction of
all her ideal world had indeed been cruel. Faintings and
hysterics had at first shaken her tender frame, and were
succeeded by a settled and pining melancholy.
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