Annette did not shun him next morning. She did not shun the subject,
either. But she had been exact in arranging that she should not be more
than a few minutes downstairs before her father. Herbert found, that
compared with her, girls of sentiment are commonplace indeed. She had
conceived an insane idea of nobility in Tinman that blinded her to his
face, figure, and character--his manners, likewise. He had forgiven a
blow!

Silly as the delusion might be, it clothed her in whimsical
attractiveness.

It was a beauty in her to dwell so firmly upon moral quality. Overthrown
and stunned as he was, and reduced to helplessness by her brief and
positive replies, Herbert was obliged to admire the singular young lady,
who spoke, without much shyness, of her incongruous, destined mate though
his admiration had an edge cutting like irony. While in the turn for
candour, she ought to have told him, that previous to her decision she
had weighed the case of the diverse claims of himself and Tinman, and
resolved them according to her predilection for the peaceful residence
of her father and herself in England. This she had done a little
regretfully, because of the natural sympathy of the young girl for the
younger man. But the younger man had seemed to her seriously-
straightforward mind too light and airy in his wooing, like one of her
waltzing officers--very well so long as she stepped the measure with him,
and not forcible enough to take her off her feet. He had changed, and
now that he had become persuasive, she feared he would disturb the
serenity with which she desired and strove to contemplate her decision.
Tinman's magnanimity was present in her imagination to sustain her,
though she was aware that Mrs. Cavely had surprised her will, and caused