Page:Romance & Reality 2.pdf/151

Rh unemployed and undervalued talents so eminently qualify him; and the chances are, that the earlier half of his life is filled with disappointment and bitterness. A woman may indulge this faculty with more impunity, because hers is generally a passive, not an active feeling, and principally confined to the affections; all the risk of beau-idealising a lover too much, is, that of never finding one, or being disappointed when found. Edward Lorraine had more materials for a hero than many of his compeers; still, his most admiring friends would have been rather at a loss to recognise him under the traits with which he was invested by Emily Arundel. Alas! the heart worships in its idol the attributes which itself has first created. Illusions are the magic of real life, and the forfeit of future pain is paid for present pleasure.