Arundel Dacre would
yield her a smile from a face more worn by thought than joy; and Arundel
Dacre, who was wont to muse alone, was now ever ready to join his cousin
and her friends in the ride or the promenade. Miss Dacre, too, had
noticed to her a kindly change in her cousin's conduct to her father. He
was more cordial to his uncle, sought to pay him deference, and seemed
more desirous of gaining his good-will. The experienced eye, too, of
this pretty woman allowed her often to observe that her hero's presence
was not particularly occasioned, or particularly inspired, by his
cousin. In a word, it was to herself that his remarks were addressed,
his attentions devoted, and often she caught his dark and liquid eye
fixed upon her beaming and refulgent brow.
Sir Lucius Grafton proceeded with that strange mixture of craft and
passion which characterised him. Each day his heart yearned more for the
being on whom his thoughts should never have pondered. Now exulting in
her increased confidence, she seemed already his victim; now awed by her
majestic spirit, he despaired even of her being his bride.
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