ot listen to any such arrangement; he
considered me, he said, as his son, and who knowed, he added, but that
the cottage would be mine after he was gone. The fact was that Bramble
ardently wished that Bessy and I should be united. He continually
hinted at it, joked with Bessy about me; and I believe that, in
consequence, Bessy's feelings towards me had taken the same bent. She
was prepared for the issue; the regard naturally felt for me from her
long intimacy, now that the indulgence of it was so openly sanctioned by
him whom she considered as her father, was not checked on her part;
indeed, there was no doubt but that it had ripened into love. She
showed it in every little way that her maiden modesty did not interfere
with, and old Bramble would at times throw out such strong hints of our
eventual union as to make me feel very uncomfortable. They neither of
them had any idea of my heart having been pre-engaged, and the
strangeness of my manner was ascribed by Bramble to my feelings towards
Bessy. Bessy, however, was not so easily deceived; my conduct towards
her appeared, to say the best of it, very inconsistent. So often had I
had opportunities, especially when I was at home and Bramble was away,
of speaking on the subject, and so often had these opportunities been
neglected, that it filled her mind with doubt and anxiety. After having
accepted my addresses at first, Janet had once or twice written to me;
latterly, however, she had not written herself--all her messages were
through Virginia's letters, or, perhaps, she would add a little
postscript. Had letters arrived for me in any other handwriting than
that of Virginia, Bessy, after her suspicions were roused, might have
easily guessed the truth; but it was the absence of any clue to guide
her as to the state of my feelings which so much puzzled her. She was
fully convinced that my heart was not hers, but she had no reason to
suppose that it was in the possession of another. Thus did my passion
for Janet Wilson in every way prove to me a source of anxiety. I knew
that it was my duty to undeceive Bramble and Bessy, yet the task was too
painful, and I could not make up my mind to make them unhappy. I felt
that I had no right to remain under Bramble's roof and live at his
expense, and, at the same time, I could not find an opportunity of
telling him what my feelings and wishes were, the very mention of which
would at once explain to him that the desire of hi