She slipped to the ground, not seriously hurt, and was assisted home
by a gentleman who came in view at the moment of her mishap. It
turned out that this gentleman, a total stranger to her, was on a
visit at the house of a neighbouring landowner. He was of Dutch
extraction, and occasionally came to England on business or pleasure
from his plantations in Guiana, on the north coast of South America,
where he usually resided.
On this account he was naturally but little known in Wessex, and was
but a slight acquaintance of the gentleman at whose mansion he was a
guest. However, the friendship between him and the Heymeres--as the
uncle and niece were named--warmed and warmed by degrees, there
being but few folk o' note in the vicinity at that time, which made
a newcomer, if he were at all sociable and of good credit, always
sure of a welcome. A tender feeling (as it is called by the
romantic) sprang up between the two young people, which ripened into
intimacy. Anderling, the foreign gentleman, was of an amorous
temperament; and, though he endeavoured to conceal his feeling, it
could be seen that Miss Maria Heymere had impressed him rather more
deeply than would be represented by a scratch upon a stone. He
seemed absolutely unable to free himself from her fascination; and
his inability to do so, much as he tried--evidently thinking he had
not the ghost of a chance with her--gave her the pleasure of power;
though she more than sympathized when she overheard him heaving his
deep drawn sighs--privately to himself, as he supposed.
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