The Seldens of Sherwood, Chapters VI-IX [pp. 612-622]

1849.] The Seldens of Sherwood. 621
to be guilty of such an absurdity; besides, she
knows tSat I am with you; so think no more
about it. Your wreath was well bestowed. was
it not, Virginia?"
"Yes, Anne Howard looked very sweet and
pretty, and the wreath became her very much,
though I had much rather have seen it on Margaret's head."
" I never knew until this evening what a very
pleasing girl Anne Howard could be; she is generally so modest and shrinking, and I never saw
her completely drawn out before. I suppose the
consciousness of looking uncommonly pretty inspired her with confidence; such things will have
this effect;-even I forgot my usual modesty,
when I remembered the unrivalled cut of my
coat, and caught a glimpse in the mirrors of the
fine looking fellow clad in that incomparable garment."
"What insufferable vanity," said Margaret,
laughing; "how could you think of your own appearance When the star of fashion, the observed
of all observers was present?"
"What, Augustus Vernon? Oh, he is just
such a looking man as ladies admire, bright black
eyes. pink cheeks, rosy lips, dark brown ringlets.
Why, I should be ashamed to look in the glass
and see such a girlish looking face, I should never
feel the least respect for myself afterwards."
"Surely, Arthur," said Virginia, with some
warmth, "you are not in earnest; it is impossible to look at Mr. Vernon without thinking him
superlatively handsome. for his is not only the
beauty of form and coloring, but of expression."
"What does his countenance express?" said
Arthur.
"It expresses refinement, sensibility, generosity, nobleness of character."'
"Does it? Well, I confess I did not perceive
it. He is not in the least to be compared in appearance with Gerald Devereux, and I did not
hear a lady in the room remark on his beauty.
It is scarcely worth while to be handsome, as one
never finds a girl who has the goQd taste to appreciate imanly beauty. Margaret, I appeal to
you whether Gerald Devereux is not a much
finer looking young man than Augustus Vernon?"
"After just observing that no girl has good
taste enough to appreciate manly beauty, you
surely ought not to appeal to Margaret on such
a question.'"
"Oh, but Margaret is so little like other girls,
that I never include her in my observations on
that class of society. She has no young ladyism about her, and I am willing to abide by her
decision."
"I must acknowledge," said Margaret, "that
I greatly prefer Gerald Devereux's looks, though
I do not believe he would generally be considered
even a handsome man. There is something about
his appearance which indicates elevation of character, and a very superior degree of intelligence,
though I do not trust implicitly to physiognomy,
for we are always liable to mistakes in inferences drawn from such grounds."
"You surprise me, Margaret," said Virginia,
"I think physiognomy an infallible test of character, and it appears wonderfully strange that
you should admire the expression of Mr. Devereux's face, more than that of Augustus Vernon's. Mr. Devereux's appearance is so little
striking indeed, that I scarcely observed it all.
I noticed that his stature was considerably above
the middle size, and that seemed to me the only
circumstance about him likely to attract attention."
"This very circumstance ought to convince
you, Virginia, how very little certainty there is
in physiognomy. We all see the same persons,
and draw different inferences as to their characters from their faces. Yet I do believe, that
the dispositions of the heart, the workings of
the mind always leave their traces on the countenance, though we wantskill to understand them;
it is like decyphering hieroglyphics, when we
have scarcely any means of verifying our interpretations, and for even a plausible explanation,
must resort to a variety of ingenious conjectures,
when perhaps an entirely different set of suppositions may offer an interpretation, apparently
equally probable."
"But some persons have an intuitive gift of
reading these obscure signs, when written on the
human face, and you must not think it vanity,
if I say, I think I possess this intuitive gift," Kaid
Virginia.
"Take care your intuitive gift does not lead
you into some horrible mistakes," said Arthur.
" Mr. Vernon is an only child, is he not, Arthur?" asked Margaret.
"No, an only son, which is perhaps worse, as
he has sisters to assist in spoiling him. His parents reside at present in Philadelphia. Mr.
Vernon, his father, is quite an opulent man; he
went originally fiom Virginia, at the invitation
of a wealthy uncle, who adopted him as his
heir, and he sometimes talks of returning to his
native state. The Davenports think he will purchase an estate near them. so it is possible we
may have the pleasure of gaining the exquisite
Mr. Vernon as a neighbor, if he can consent to
rusticate in Virginia."
Virginia's cheeks glowed, her heart beat quicker. and she thought, though she did not say, that
such an event would form quite a new era in
their state of society.
"Gerald Devereux," said Arthur, "was born
in Ireland, and though he was brought from his
The Seldens of Sherwood.
1849.]
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