Hastings so often to Locust Grove; some
sincerely pitying him if, indeed, he entertained a serious thought
of making Eugenia Deane his wife, while others severely censured
him for having so soon forgotten one whose grave had not been made
a twelvemonth. But he had not forgotten, and almost every hour of
his life was her loved name upon his lips, and the long golden
tress his own hand had severed from her head was guarded as his
choicest treasure, while the dark hours of the night bore witness
to his lonely grief. And it was to escape this loneliness--to
forget for a brief time the sad memories of the past--that he
went so often to Locust Grove, where as yet his child was the
greater attraction, though he could not be insensible to the
charms of Eugenia who spared no pains to interest him in herself.
He was passionately fond of music, and many an hour she sat
patiently at the piano, seeking to perfect herself in a difficult
piece, with which she thought to surprise him. But nothing,
however admirably executed, could sound well upon her old-
fashioned instrument, and how to procure a new one was the daily
subject of her meditations.
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