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Rh them; but reasons are proofs given as much for our own satisfaction as for that of others. And, in truth, the worthy host had every cause to be satisfied with his wife's management. Their bacon was a credit even in Hampshire; their ale worthy of washing it down; their accounts well kept, and most promising at the year's end. The worst faults that could be alleged against her were, that she sometimes continued her admonitions and explanations in an ear too drowsy to receive them, and that she would smile too readily when a young cavalier chanced to praise her white teeth; but that, as she observed, was in the way of business.

There were already many other guests when the Italians entered; but there was that in their appearance which attracted immediate attention. The hostess's quick eye glanced from one to the other, and pronouncing them to be brother and sister, she felt inclined to favour one for the other's sake, namely, the sake of a singularly handsome youth. Be as philosophical as we can on the subject, fortify the mind with as many old proverbs as we will,—how that beauty is a flower of the field that perisheth, and that "Handsome is that handsome does,"—yet there will always be something in beauty that attracts and interests us