Constantia felt quite happy. She was surrounded by all whom her heart
best loved; she had leisure and opportunity to improve her taste in the
fine arts; and she was allowed that limited and distant view of the
world which informs the mind and polishes the manners without
endangering principle. Her exquisite beauty could not fail to attract
attention; but the scanty income of her father, and the prudence of Mrs.
Mellicent, alike forbade that it should be ostentatiously exposed to the
public eye. A few select friends were admitted as intimates, and only
these knew that Dr. Beaumont had a superlatively lovely and enchanting
daughter. She seldom appeared in public except at church, where her face
was so shaded by her hood, that its attractions were rather guessed at
than discovered. Thus this fair rose-bud expanded in the soil best
suited to perfect its attractions, the sheltered vale of domestic
privacy, where, unconscious of its super-eminence, and screened from
every blast, it preserved the undying fragrance of modest worth, and the
soft elegance of unassuming beauty.
Pages:
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293