This eBook was produced by Dagny,
and David Widger,
Whither come Wisdom's queen
And the snare-weaving Love?
EURIP. /Iphig. in Aul./ I. 1310.
"Notitiam primosque gradus vicinia fecit."*—OVID.
* Neighbourhood caused the acquaintance and first introduction.
CLEVELAND'S villa /was/ full, and of persons usually called agreeable.Amongst the rest was Lady Florence Lascelles. The wise old man had evercounselled Maltravers not to marry too young; but neither did he wishhim to put off that momentous epoch of life till all the bloom of heartand emotion was passed away. He thought, with the old lawgivers, thatthirty was the happy age for forming a connection, in the choice ofwhich, with the reason of manhood, ought, perhaps, to be blended thepassion of youth. And he saw that few men were more capable thanMaltravers of the true enjoyments of domestic life. He had longthought, also, that none were more calculated to sympathise withErnest's views, and appreciate his peculiar character, than the giftedand brilliant Florence Lascelles. Cleveland looked with toleration onher many eccentricities of thought and conduct,—eccentricities which heimagined would rapidly melt away beneath the influence of thatattachment which usually operates so great a change in women; and, whereit is strongly and intensely felt, moulds even those of the mostobstinate character into compliance or similitude with the sentiments orhabits of its object.
The stately self-control of Maltravers was, he conceived, precisely thatquality that gives to men an unconscious command over the very thoughtsof the woman whose affection they win: while, on the other hand, hehoped that the fancy and enthusiasm of Florence would tend to rendersharper and more practical an ambition, which seemed to the sober man ofthe world too apt to refine upon the means, and to /cui bono/ theobjects of worldly distinction. Besides, Cleveland was one whothoroughly appreciated the advantages of wealth and station; and therank and the dower of Florence were such as would force Maltravers intoa position in social life, which could not fail to make new exactionsupon talents which Cleveland fancied were precisely those adapted ratherto command than to serve. In Ferrers he recognised a man to /get/ intopower—in Maltravers one by whom power, if ever attained, would bewielded with dignity, and exerted for great uses. Something, therefore,higher than mere covetousness for the vulgar interests of Maltraversmade Cleveland desire to secure to him the heart and hand of the greatheiress; and he fancied that, whatever might be the obstacle, it wouldnot be in the will of Lady Florence herself. He prudently resolved,however, to leave matters to their natural course. He hinted nothing toone party or the other. No place for falling in love like a largecountry house, and no time for it, amongst the indolent well-born, likethe close of a London season, when, jaded by small cares, and sickenedof hollow intimacies, even the coldest may well yearn for the tones ofaffection—the excitement of an honest emotion.
Somehow or other it happened that Florence and Ernest, after the firstday or two, were constantly thrown together. She rode on horseback, andMaltravers was by her side—they made excursions on the river, and theysat on the same bench in the gliding pleasure-boat. In the evenings,the younger guests, with the assistance of the neighbouring families,often got up a dance in a temporary pavilion built out of thedining-room. Ernest never danced. Florence did