which the laborious have-nots too usually entertain for the prosperous
haves. But the moment the unwelcome intelligence of Madame Dalibard was
conveyed to him, the smooth-faced boy swelled into dignity and
importance.

Yet it was not merely as a rival that that strong, manly heart, after the
first natural agony, regarded Percival. No, he looked upon him less with
anger than with interest,--as the one in whom Helen's happiness was
henceforth to be invested. And to Madame Dalibard's astonishment,--for
this nature was wholly new to her experience,--she saw him, even in that
first interview, composing his rough face to smiles, smoothing his bluff,
imperious accents into courtesy, listening patiently, watching benignly,
and at last thrusting his large hand frankly forth, griping Percival's
slender fingers in his own; and then, with an indistinct chuckle that
seemed half laugh and half groan, as if he did not dare to trust himself
further, he made his wonted unceremonious nod, and strode hurriedly from
the room.

But he came again and again, almost daily, for about a fortnight.
Sometimes, without entering the house, he would join the young people in
the garden, assist them with awkward hands in their playful work on the
garden, or sit with them in the ivied bower; and warming more and more
each time he came, talk at last with the cordial frankness of an elder
brother. There was no disguise in this; he began to love Percival,--what
would seem more strange to the superficial, to admire him. Genius has a
quick perception of the moral qualities; genius, which, differing thus
from mere talent, is more allied to the heart than to the head,
sympathizes genially with goodness. Ardworth respected that young,
ingenuous, unpolluted mind; he himself felt better and purer in its
atmosphere. Much of the affection he cherished for Helen passed thus