Page:Duty and Inclination. Volume 3.pdf/96

94 caught her ear. Her mother being absent from home, and her mind being recently impressed by the discourse of Mrs. Philimore, she was in the act of precipitately leaving the apartment, when Sir Howard opposed her flight; her confusion was evident; when assuming an air and attitude of admiration, his arms extended as if transported with ecstacy, the words "beauty, beautiful," burst from his lips.

That respect, even to reverence, he had been accustomed to wear in her presence, then, from the consciousness that her heart was inaccessible to him, totally vanished in all the real levity of his character; he stood boldly contemplating her youthful charms, adorned as they were by a modesty that was matchless, unawed by the dignified reserve her looks expressed; he endeavoured to rally her out of it;—it was rusticity, prudery, and quite out of fashion; it was entirely foreign to the present manners. Gaiety, sprightliness, even levity, was consistent with her age, and which was all she wanted to render her completely captivating! bewitching in the extreme!

Offended pride and delicacy suffused Rosilia's cheek with a crimson blush. Sir Howard had been disapproving of a too great nicety of feeling; but, when he observed its enchanting effects, his heart contradicted his words, and whispered, "That a woman given to blush, possessed one of the loveliest of female graces!"

Taking advantage of the pause, as he stood gazing on her, Rosilia attempted to pass, in order to shun