Bressant

It might seem strange that his memory should not have kept her beyond

the reach of deleterious influences. But a young girl's love is any

thing but a preservative, if it shall yield her, in any aspect, other

than such pure and delicate thoughts as she would not scruple to whisper

in her mother's ear, or to ask God's blessing on at night. Should there

be any circumstance or incident, however seemingly trifling and

unimportant, in her reminiscences, which nevertheless keeps recurring to

the mind with a slight twinge of regret--a feeling that it would have

been just as well had it never happened--then is love a dangerous

companion. Gradually does the trifling spot grow upon her; in trying to

justify it, she succeeds only in lowering the whole idea of love to its

level; and this once accomplished, in all future intercourse with her

lover she must be undefended by the shield of her maidenly integrity.

And not all men are great enough not to presume on woman's weakness,

even though it be that woman, to assert whose honor and purity they

would risk their lives against the world.

Some such quality of earthiness Cornelia may have felt in the course of

her acquaintance with Bressant, preventing her love from ennobling and

elevating her. Alas! if it were so. If she cannot draw a high

inspiration from the affection which must be her loftiest sentiment,

what shall be her safeguard, and who her champion?

In the course of ten days or a fortnight, Aunt Margaret announced that

the condition of her head would admit of traveling, and the

long-expected tour began. But the more important consequences of

Cornelia's fashionable experiences had already taken place.