love with Evelina. He seemed to court her society, and paid her
attentions which could be explained on one hypothesis only. Phyllis was
delighted, for the match in every way was most suitable, and must
gladden the hearts of Evelina's parents. The young man would one day be
the possessor of twenty thousand acres; he had already taken a position
in the county, and his soul was believed to be touched with Divine
grace. Evelina certainly was in love with him, and Phyllis was not
backward in urging his claims. She congratulated herself, and with
justice, that if the marriage should ever take place, it would be
acknowledged that she had had a hand in it. It might even be doubted
whether Evelina, without Phyllis's approval, would have permitted
herself to indulge her passion, for she was by nature diffident, and so
beset with reasons for and against when she had to make up her mind on
any important matter, that a decision was always most difficult to her.

"Charles stayed for about six weeks, and was then called home. He
promised that he would pay another visit of a week in the autumn, when
Sir Robert was to entertain the Lord Lieutenant and there were to be
grand doings at the Hall. Conversation naturally turned upon him during
his absence, and Phyllis, as usual, was warm in his praise. One
evening, after she had reached her own room and had lain down to sleep,
a strange apparition surprised her. It was something more than a
suspicion that she herself loved Charles. She strove to rid herself of
this intrusion: she called to mind the difference in their rank; that
she was five years his senior, and that if she yielded she would be
guilty of treachery to Evelina. It was all in vain; the more she
resisted the more vividly did his image present itself, and she was
greatly distressed. What was the meaning of this outbreak of emotion,
not altogether spiritual, of this loss of self-possession, such as she
had never known before? Her usual remedies against evil thoughts failed