Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/330

 me, that Mr Mollins had been very attentive to him; and that, from all he had seen, he thought him a good natured, vain, silly fellow. I was glad to find him thus far reconciled, and said all in my power to persuade him that all might yet turn out better than he expected. He assured me, that he was as willing to hope as I was, but that he could as yet find nothing to rest his hopes upon. "As yet," said he, "I neither know what, nor who he is: but as he never, upon any occasion, gives a direct and explicit answer to any question, I am at a loss to determine, whether the ambiguity of his expressions arises from a confused intellect, or from a desire of concealment. The behaviour of your sister too, gives me great uneasiness. She keeps aloof from me, as if I were her enemy. Alas! how little have I deserved this of her!"

"The first time I was alone with my sister," continued Mary, "I endeavoured to expostulate with her, on the impropriety