"
"I am aware of that; but before I proceed, allow me to ask, in order
that I may see my way the clearer, to what length did the expression of
my brother's affection go?"
"It went so far," she replied, blushing, "as an avowal of mutual
attachment; indeed, it might be called an engagement; but ever since the
death of his cousin, and the estrangement of our families, he seems to
have forgotten me. It is very strange; when I was a portionless girl he
was ardent and tender, but, ever since this unfortunate property came
into my hands, he seems to have joined in the hard and unjust feeling of
his family against me. I have certainly met him since at parties, and on
other occasions, but we met almost as strangers; he was not the Charles
Lindsay whom I had known when I was comparatively a poor girl; he
appeared to shrink from me. In the meantime, as I have already confessed
to you, he has my heart; and, so long as he has, I cannot encourage the
addresses of any other man."
Woodward paused, and looked upon her with well-feigned admiration and
sorrow.
"The man is blind," he at length said, "not only to the fascinations of
your person and character, but to his own interests.
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