Page:Modern literature (1804 Volume 1).djvu/299

 *tive, considered as a change. A lady whose affections are perfectly unengaged, may be pleased with attentions, which are merely homage to her charms, and, though indifferent to the man who has bestowed them, may be piqued or mortified at their discontinuance, real or imagined. The mind of Maria, however, was too strong to be much affected by pique. She was less mortified than anxious. She recollected, however, that there was no motive, which she could avow, for coldness and distance to a gentleman who was her father's guest, the intimate friend of her brother, and whose manners and deportment had a claim to every attention which the politeness of hospitality could exact from a younger and fair hostess: she, therefore, resolved to attempt a greater degree of care and frankness. At tea, the worthy host, in order to amuse the company