The Gorgeous Isle

"She won't have him. Do not worry."

"I am not at all sure. You forget that Hunsdon would be a great match for any girl."

"She does not care two straws about making a great match."

"Fiddlesticks."

"She is made on the grand scale. Hunsdon is all very well, but he makes no appeal to the imagination. I am almost glad Warner has made such a wreck of himself. A handsome, dashing young poet, with the world at his feet, might be fatal to her. Warner never was dashing, to be sure, but he certainly was handsome ten years ago, and fame is a dazzling halo."

"He improves every day, but he seems to fancy Miss Percy as little as any of the others."

"Poor devil! I suppose he recalls the time when so many girls tried to marry him. I cannot see much improvement myself, although he does not look quite so much like a lost soul roaming about in search of a respectable tenement. But his physical attraction is all gone. Not one of the girls is in love with him, not one of the men jealous."

"Oh, certainly no woman could fall in love with him, any more than any parent would accept him. And as he is quite safe I wish he would command more of Miss Percy's attention, and leave her with the less to bestow on Hunsdon."

"He is too much in love with her."

"What?"

"I seem to be the only person in Bath House with eyes in my head. He is desperately, miserably, in love with her, and too conscious of his own ruin, too respectful of her, to dream of addressing her. He would stay away altogether, I fancy, did he not find a doubtful pleasure in looking at her."

"I am distressed if I have added to his trouble," said Lady Hunsdon, who prided herself upon always experiencing the correct sentiments. "I hoped he came so often to us because we had restored his lost self-respect, and he was grateful to be among his equals once more."

"Oh, that, doubtless. But the rose leaves crumple more with every visit. I only hope the reaction will not awaken the echoes of Nevis."

"What a raven! Let us hope for the best and continue to do our duty. If he really is in love with Anne Percy it may prove his redemption."

"Much more likely his damnation. It will be the last drop in a cup of bitterness already too full."