But take courage, my--my
dear girl!--our Lord forbid that I should wantonly play with the
delicate emotions of your heart! Poor little heart! does it flutter?"
and Mr. Dyceworthy leered sweetly. "I will give it time to recover
itself! Yes, yes! a little time! and then you will put that pretty hand
in mine"--here he drew nearer to her, "and with one kiss we will seal
the compact!"
And he attempted to steal his arm round her waist, but the girl sprang
back indignantly, and pulling down a thick branch of the clambering
prickly roses from the porch, held it in front of her by way of
protection. Mr. Dyceworthy laughed indulgently.
"Very pretty--very pretty indeed!" he mildly observed, eyeing her as she
stood at bay barricaded by the roses. "Quite a picture! There, there! do
not be frightened,--such shyness is very natural! We will embrace in the
Lord another day! In the meantime one little word--_the_ word--will
suffice me,--yea, even one little smile,--to show me that you understand
my words,--that you love me"--here he clasped his plump hands together
in flabby ecstasy--"even as you are loved!"
His absurd attitude,--the weak, knock-kneed manner in which his clumsy
legs seemed, from the force of sheer sentiment, to bend under his
weighty body, and the inanely amatory expression of his puffy
countenance, would have excited most women to laughter,--and Thelma was
perfectly conscious of his utterly ridiculous appearance, but she was
too thoroughly indignant to take the matter in a humorous light.
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