"Your affectionate cousin,
"ELI. EUSTACE."
Somebody, in speaking on Lady Eustace's behalf, and making the best of her
virtues, had declared that she did not have lovers. Hitherto that had been
true of her; but her mind had not the less dwelt on the delight of a
lover. She still thought of a possible Corsair who would be willing to
give up all but his vices for her love, and for whose sake she would be
willing to share even them. It was but a dream, but nevertheless it
pervaded her fancy constantly. Lord Fawn, peer of Parliament, and member
of Her Majesty's Government, as he was, could not have been such a lover
to her. Might it not be possible that there should exist something of
romance between her and her cousin Frank? She was the last woman in the
world to run away with a man, or to endanger her position by a serious
indiscretion; but there might perhaps be a something between her and her
cousin, a liaison quite correct in its facts, a secret understanding, if
nothing more, a mutual sympathy, which should be chiefly shown in the
abuse of all their friends; and in this she could indulge her passion for
romance and poetry.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179