'All which,' replied the matter-of-fact man of parchment, 'is very
spirited and romantic, no doubt. But let us look at the affair with
calm and clear eyes. You profess to love my child with strong and
unquenchable passion?'
'Profess! Do you doubt me?'
'I do not doubt that you are perfectly in earnest _now_; but my
knowledge of mankind forbids my putting much faith in the endurance of
the sort of feeling with which you profess--I cannot give up the word,
you see--to be inspired. My child, so says the world, is
beautiful--very beautiful. Yours may be a mere passion for her
beauty.'
'You wrong me,' replied the young man; 'I have known and admired her
long enough to appreciate her intrinsic worth. Her image is as dear to
me as my own life'
Dodbury bent on his young friend a long and earnest look of inquiry.
He was a good reader of human nature. He saw that, as the lover spoke,
his eye lightened with enthusiasm, his lips quivered with emotion,
his cheeks glowed with blushes.
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