ad,--Judith
Pride's famous arms--which the high-colored young men in top-boots used
to swear were the handsomest pair in New England--right over again. He
did not know before with what defiant effect she would light up, standing
as she did directly under a huge lustre, in full flower of flame, like a
burning azalea. He was not a man who intended to let his sentiments
carry him away from the serious interests of his future, yet, as he
looked upon Myrtle Hazard, his heart gave one throb which made him feel
in every pulse that this way a woman who in her own right, simply as a
woman, could challenge the homage of the proudest young man of her time.
He hardly knew till this moment how much of passion mingled with other
and calmer motives of admiration. He could say I love you as truly as
such a man could ever speak these words, meaning that he admired her,
that he was attracted to her, that he should be proud of her as his wife,
that he should value himself always as the proprietor of so rare a
person, that no appendage to his existence would take so high a place in
his thoughts. This implied also, what is of great consequence to a young
woman's happiness in the married state, that she would be treated with
uniform politeness, with satisfactory evidences of affection, and with a
degree of confidence quite equal to what a reasonable woman should expect
from a very superior man, her husband.

If Myrtle could have looked through the window in the breast against
which only authors are privileged to flatten their features, it is for
the reader to judge how far the programme would have satisfied her.

Less than this, a great deal less, does appear to satisfy many young
women; and it may be that the interior just drawn, fairly judged, belongs
to a model lover and husband. Whether it does or not, Myrtle did not see
this picture. There was a beautifully embroidered shirt-bosom in front
of that window through which we have just looked, that intercepted all
sight of what was going on within. She only saw a man, young, handsome,
courtly, with a winning tongue, with an ambitious spirit, whose every
look and tone implied his admiration of herself, and who was associated
with her past life in such a way that they alone appeared like old
friends in the midst of that cold alien throng. It seemed as if he could
not have chosen a more auspicious hour than this; for she never looked so
captivating, and her presence must inspire his lip