The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

6 REYNOLDS’ WORKS against whatsoever temptation might be thrown in her way. He had, however, been careful in avoiding the acquaintance of any a the young collegians, and though several attempts were made on their part to obtain an introduction to Captain Lacey and his daughter, they had all proved ineffectual. It is needless to particularize the details of the accident which threw Bertram Vivian in their way. Suffice it to say that on one occasion he was fortunate enough in being close at hand when a half-tipsy undergraduate, meeting the young lady in the street, offered her an insult, and he struck the fellow to the ground. To escort Miss Lacey to her home became a courteous necessity on his part, and which she could not without rudeness decline; to be invited to walk in and receive the thanks of her father was an equally natural sequence. During this brief interview, Captain Lacey was so favourably impressed with his daughter’s deliverer that when the latter solicited permission to call and pay his respects again, utter churlishness could have alone refused it. He did call, and he became enamoured of Eliza Lacey. The tone of his conversation, his agreeable manners, the delicacy of his conduct, and the unstudied evidences of a fine intellect which developed themselves, all contributed to confirm Captain Lacey’s favourable opinion on the one hand, and to make their impression upon Eliza’s heart on the other. The captain, without setting himself studiously and de- liberately to work to inquire into the young man’s prospects, thought it, when he happened to learn that Bertram be- longed to a noble family, quite sufficient to prove that these prospects must be good; and though hitherto he had enter- tained a very indifferent opinion — bordering indeed almost upon aversion — for the Oxford collegians, he was now in- clined to fancy that Bertram Vivian constituted at least one very favourable exception. Bertram called as often as he dared, consistently with delicacy, when this acquaintance first commenced; his visits, however, soon became more frequent, and from the very fact that he found pleasure in taking a quiet cup of tea and passing his evenings in that humble parlour, the captain argued everything in favour of the young man’s steadiness. Thus was it that as weeks grew into months, and Bertram’s attentions became more and more marked toward HEliza, the father inwardly rejoiced on beholding the evidences of a (E@MAIKELeXexe) Ss) (E(0)