"And what will you do, St. George, about Agnes? I think you are touched there a little!"
"Not a whit I--honor bright! And for what I will do--amuse myself, George--amuse myself, and that pretty coquette, too; and if I find her less of a coquette, with more of a heart than I fancy she has--" he stopped short, and laughed.
"Well, what then--what then?" cried George Delawarr.
"It will be time enough to decide _then_."
"And so say I, St. George. Meanwhile, I too will amuse myself."
"Ay! but observe this special difference--what is fun to _you_ may be death to _her_, for she _has_ a heart, and a fine, and true, and deep one; may be death to yourself--for you, too, are honorable, and true, and noble; and that is why I love you, George, and why I speak to you thus, at the risk of being held meddlesome or impertinent."
"Oh, never, never!" exclaimed Delawarr, moving his horse closer up to him, and grasping his hand warmly, "never! You meddlesome or impertinent! Let me hear no man call you so. But I will think of this. On my honor, I will think of this that you have said!"
And he did think of it. Thought of it often, deeply--and the more he thought, the more he loved Blanche Fitz-Henry.
Days, weeks, and months rolled on, and still those two young cavaliers were constant visiters, sometimes alone, sometimes with other gallants in their company, at Ditton-in-the-Dale. And ever still, despite his companion's warning, Delawarr lingered by the fair heiress' side, until both were as deeply enamored as it is possible for two persons to be, both single-hearted, both endowed with powerful intellect, and powerful imagination; both of that strong and energetic temperament which renders all impressions permanent, all strong passions immortal. It was strange that there should have been two persons, and there were but two, who discovered nothing of what was passing--suspected nothing of the deep feelings which possessed the hearts of the young lovers; while all else marked the growth of liking into love, of love into that absolute and over-whelming idolatry, which but few souls can comprehend, and which to those few is the mightiest of blessings or the blackest of curses.
And those two, as is oftentimes the case, were the very two whom it most concerned to perceive, and who imagined themselves the quickest and the clearest sighted--Allan Fitz-Henry, and the envious Agnes.