he, in their intimes conversations, did not cease to
twit Mr. Pen about his notorious failure in his own virgin attachment to
the Fotheringay), and, number one being withdrawn, transfer themselves
to number two without much difficulty. And poor little Fanny was offered
up in sacrifice as an instance to prove this theory. What griefs she had
endured and surmounted, what bitter pangs of hopeless attachment she had
gone through, what time it had taken to heal those wounds of the tender
little bleeding heart, Mr. Pen did not know, or perhaps did not choose
to know; for he was at once modest and doubtful about his capabilities
as a conqueror of hearts, and averse to believe that he had executed any
dangerous ravages on that particular one, though his own instance and
argument told against himself in this case; for if, as he said, Miss
Fanny was by this time in love with her surgical adorer, who had neither
good looks, nor good manners, nor wit, nor anything but ardour and
fidelity to recommend him, must she not in her first sickness of the
love-complaint have had a serious attack, and suffered keenly for a
man who had certainly a number of the showy qualities which Mr. Huxter
wanted?

"You wicked odious creature," Miss Blanche said, "I believe that you are
enraged with Fanny for being so impudent as to forget you, and that you
are actually jealous of Mr. Huxter." Perhaps Miss Amory was right, as
the blush which came in spite of himself and tingled upon Pendennis's
cheek (one of those blows with which a man's vanity is constantly
slapping his face) proved to Pen that he was angry to think he had
been superseded by such a rival. By such a fellow as that! without any
conceivable good quality! O Mr. Pendennis! (although this remark does
not apply to such a smart fellow as you) if Nature had not made that
provision for each sex in the credulity of the other, which sees good
qualities where none exist, good looks in donkeys' ears, wit in their
numskulls, and music in their bray, there would not have been near so
much marrying and giving in marriage as now obtains, and as is necessary
for the due propagation and continuance of the noble race to which we
belong.

"Jealous or not," Pen said, "and, Blanche, I don't say no, I should
have liked Fanny to have come to a better end than that. I don't like
histories that end in that cynical way; and when we arrive at the
conclusion of the story of a pretty girl's passion, to find such a
f