Anna Bartlett Warner

“ And I think he loves me wonderfully, considering how I have tried his patience. Just think what it is for a grave, quiet, grown-up, sensible man, to have the plague of a girl like me! Very few men would stand it at all, Mr. Roll; but Mr. Falkirk never said a rough word to me in his life.'
She was so grave, so innocent, so ignorant in it all, the effect was indescribably funny.
'I should think very few men would stand it,' said Rollo, composedly; but Primrose and her father smiled.
'Mr. Falkirk is an admirable man,' said Dr. Maryland. ”

“ Falkirk probably knew what his fortune was already, for the grey was abundantly mingled with the brown in his eyebrows and hair. However, to do Miss Hazel's guardian justice, if his face was not gracious, it was at least in some respects fine. A man always to be respected, easily to be loved, sat there at the table, at his papers.
As for the little 'nut-browne mayd' who studied destiny in the fire, she merely glanced up at him in answer to this appeal; and with a shake of the head as if fairy tales and he were indeed hopelessly disconnected, returned to her musings. ”

“ Falkirk! You don't deserve it—but you may have some. And I will be generous—Mr. Falkirk, here is a wing of the robin.'
'No, thank you,' said the other, laughing. 'Why these are fine!'
'Is the air fine out of doors, Mr. Rollo?' asked the young lady.
'Nothing can be finer.'
'What you call "strong," sir?'
'Strong as a rose—or as a lark's whistle—or as June sunlight; strong in a gentle way; I don't admire things that are too strong.'
'Things that you think ought to be weak. ”

“ The mountain was quickly won in this style, and Rollo gained a high ledge where the ground lay more level. He went deliberately here, and used a pair of eyes as quick as might match the feet, though not to notice how the dew sparkled on the moss or how the colours changed in the valley. He was far above the Mountain House, on the wild hillside. The sun had scattered the fog from the lower country, which lay a wide dreamland to tempt the eye, and nearer by the lesser charms of rock and tree, moss and lichen, light and shadow, played with each other in wildering combinations. ”

“ Pleasant and gay he was when anybody saw him; but nobody's servant. By day Mr. Rollo roamed the woods, for he was said to be a great hunter—or he lay on the grass in the shade with a book—or he found out for himself some delectable place or pleasure unknown previously to others, though as soon as known sure to be approved and adopted; and at evening the rich scents of his cigar floated in the air where the moonlight lay brightest or shadows played daintiest. But he did not seem to share the universal attraction towards the daintiest thing of all at the Mountain. ”

“ Again the colour bloomed up.
'You would know, if you were a woman, Mr. Falkirk, how it feels to have a man sit and question you with such an air. Ah,' she said, dashing off the tears which had gathered in her eyes, 'if you really think I can take no better care of myself than that, you should not have said I might go with those people to-morrow!—A rose's thorns are for protection, sir!'— And away she went, out of the room and up the stairs; and Mr. Falkirk heard no more till Dingee entered with fruit and biscuits. ”

“ Things get so tiresome when you know them too well.'
'People and all!' said Mr. Falkirk.
'Well, yes—don't you think they do? When there is nothing more to be found out about them.'
'I don't agree with you,' said another lady. 'I think it's so tiresome to find them out. When you once know them, then you give up being disappointed.'
'My dear Clara!' said Mme. Lasalle, 'what a misanthropical sentiment! Miss Kennedy, I know by her face, will never agree with you. Were you ever disappointed, my dear, in your life? There! ”

“ It must be rather spicy work to a man loving power, to manage a wild girl and her estate together—and with that Miss Kennedy's resolution took a vehement turn. And this was why Mr. Falkirk had been so easy—and why—and why— At which point thoughts and breath got in an utter tangle, and she had to begin all over again.
He could not wait to be guardian till she gave him permission.—'Well for him!' said Miss Hazel, with a gesture of her head. And then if she married anybody else without his leave—and she would have to ask his leave!—Would she?—not quite, the girl thought to herself. ”

“ Well, she was not a vain girl, having quite too much of a tide in her fancies, notions and purposes to be stopping to think of herself all the while. So, though Rollo's manner did make her shy, it stirred up no self-consciousness. For understanding may sleep, while instincts are awake. It was very pleasant to be liked, and if she wondered a little why he should like her—for Miss Kennedy was certainly not blind to some of her own wayward imperfections—still, perhaps the wonder made it all the pleasanter. ”

“ If she could have known, poor child, what sort of a fire it was; if her thoughts had even dimly imagined what men old in the world may be; no kid glove nor silken tissue would have been deemed thick enough to fend off the contact. But she knew nothing of all that, except by the instinct which now and then gave her a sudden sheer. As it was, she was intensely amused, and half out of her wits with fun and frolic and utter light heartedness; seeing no harm, imagining no evil; quite regardless of Mrs. Bywank's wise maxim that what men of sense disapprove, a woman—as a rule—had better not do. ”