holy, her voice less clear and
ringing.

When a man loves a woman, and her mood changes and softens, he reads but
one meaning in her tenderness; and it was not long before I had begun
fully to believe that there was hope for me. There seemed to be no one
to meddle in my wooing. True, Judge Talbot came constantly to the house
to see Miss Lenox, and lacked none of the signs by which we read a man's
errand in his demeanor; but I did not fear any rivalry from him. Youth,
at any rate, is something in itself, independent of other advantages: no
wonder it vaunts itself and believes in its own power. That Georgy would
think for an instant of giving herself to this man did not seriously
occur to me. His face was like the face of thousands of successful men
whom we see daily in the great marts of the world. His forehead was
broad but low, his eyes inclined to smallness and set closely together,
his brows shaggy and overhanging: his cheeks were heavy, and the fleshy
formation of his mouth and chin denoted both cruelty and sensuality. He
was a wealthy man: such men are always rich. He had the reputation of
holding an iron grip over everything he claimed, and never letting it
go. He had been married in early life, and now had sons and daughters
past the age of the girl upon whom he was eagerly pressing his suit.

He came to dinner now and then, and over his wine he was noisy,
boisterous and bragging. He had been in Congress with Mr. Floyd years
before, and, though of different parties, they had innumerable
recollections in common, and, much as I disliked Mr. Talbot, I
recognized his cleverness in anecdote and the clearness and conciseness
of his narratives. I could endure him among men, but with women he was
odious, and, for some reasons occult and inexplicable to any man, plumed
himself upon his success with them. He understood himself too well, and
relied too entirely upon his natural abilities, to make any effort to
hide his gross ignorance upon all subjects requiring either literary or
mental culture. He had been eminently successful without any such
acquirements in every field he entered, and consequently considered them
non-essentials in a man's career--very good to have, like the cream and
confectionery at dessert, tickling the palates of women and children,
but eschewed by sensible men. He had travelled twice over Europe, seeing
everything with the voracious curiosity of a strong man eager to get his
money's worth: after hi