The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 62: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE AVOWAL OF LOVE Ab As a matter of course, an acquaintance commenced under such circumstances was not likely to be disregarded by those concerned. Indeed, it was an acquaintance of the kind which, with congenial dispositions, soon ripens into friendship, and thus was it that an intimacy sprang up be- tween Valentine Malvern and the Florimel family. Huis lordship and Pauline soon became much interested in this young gentleman, whose handsome countenance wore the impress of early sorrows, and whose disposition, naturally studious and thoughtful, was prematurely tinged with a “melancholy shade. On the other hand, Valentine himself soon experienced a sincere admiration and profound respect for this noble couple, whose affections were so thoroughly centred in each other, and who after so many years of marriage seemed lovers still. But we must not forget to state — and, indeed, the very progress of our tale requires that we should mention — the impression which Valentine Malvern and Florence Eaton made upon each other. In this young maiden of nineteen did Valentine behold the personification of all the sweetest attributes belonging unto woman. He found her endowed with a personal beauty the rarest, the most interesting, while of all the mental charms that can possibly ornament her sex those of Florence were the truest, the choicest, and the best. On the other hand, though innocent as an angel and artless as the infant child, pure and spotless in soul as she was stainless and bright in her Madonna-like beauty, she could not remain insensible te the handsome person, the pleasing manners, the intellectual qualities, and the sterling virtues of Valentine Malvern. She beheld him mournful and unhappy on account of his father’s still incomprehensi- ble disappearance, and she naturally felt interested in one who, though of an age when the world’s sunlight usually dissipates even the darkest clouds that gather around the heart, gave himself up to the absorbing fervour of that fihal piety with which he continued to revere a lost parent’s memory. During the four. months, then, that had now elapsed since Valentine Malvern first became acquainted with the Florimels, there had been ample leisure and full opportunity for himself and Florence Eaton to know, to understand, and to like each other. The maiden’s aunt and uncle be- CORNICLOOL ‘S (C(O)