ator soon discovered the state o' my
feelins regardin her, as she couldna but do, for my een war never aff
her, an' my looks war charged wi' an expression that was easily aneuch
interpreted. She therefore--at least I thocht sae--kent perfectly weel
how the laun lay; an' if I didna mak a guid use o' the impression I had
made in my turn--for this I thocht I saw too in sundry little nameless
things--the faut was my ain, as I didna want such encouragement as a
modest and virtuous girl could, under the circumstances, haud oot to a
lover. She looked wi' an interest on me, which she couldna conceal
whanever we met, an' I frequently detected the corner o' her bright blue
eye turned towards me in the kirk. Often, also, have I seen her sittin
in melancholy abstraction when she should hae been listenin to the
minister; but could _I_ blame her, whan she was thinkin o' me? Of
_that_, from all I could see an' mark, I was satisfied.

At length, unable to endure the distraction o' my feelins langer, and
encouraged by the wee symptoms o' reciprocal affection which I had
marked in my enslaver, assurin me o' my bein on pretty safe ground, I
cam to the desperate resolution o' makin a decisive move in the
business. I resolved to _write_ my beloved; to confess my passion, and
to beg that she would allow me to introduce myself to her. This
resolution, however, I fand it much easier to adopt than to execute.
There was a faint-heartedness aboot me that I couldna get the better o';
and a score o' sheets o' paper perished in the attempts I made to
concoct something suitable to the occasion. At length, I succeeded; that
is, I accomplished such a letter as I felt convinced I couldna surpass,
although I wrought at it for a twelvemonth.

Havin faulded this letter, which I did wi' a tremblin hand and
palpitatin heart, I clapt it into my pocket-book, whar it lay for three
days, for want o' courage to dispatch it, and, in some sort, for want o'
opportunity too; for if I sent it by the post, there was a danger o't
fa'in into the hands o' Lizzy's faither--Lizzy Barton bein the name o'
my enthraller; and there was naebody else that I could think o' employin
in the business. At length, however, I determined to dispatch it at a'
hazards. There was a wee bit ragged, smart, intelligent laddie, that
used to be constantly playing at bools aboot oor shop-door, and whom we
sometimes sent on bits o' sma' messages through the toun; and on him I
determined to devolv