Page:The Clergyman's Wife.djvu/65



HE admired of many eyes and the beloved of numberless hearts, (male ones, be it understood, for women are strangely chary in bestowing affection upon her,) is Amanda Littleton. See how regally she stands, begirt by her worshipping subjects! How the ballroom moths, that float around her, sun themselves in the light of her liberally dispensed smiles!

As a juggler plays with his glittering balls, she is skilfully sporting with all those hearts, keeping them flying around her, yet attracted to her, powerless to break the charmed circle. But the artillery, with which she conquers, is so light that it seems cowardice to fly its graceful battery. The arts by which she ensnares, are so subtle that the wisest of her train can neither analyze nor withstand them. The favors she tosses as rewards, to this or that suppliant, are so harmless, so equally distributed, that none dare chide her prodigality.