She sees
people scared at her coming; is received by sufferance and fear rather
than by welcome; likes perhaps the terror which she inspires, and to
enter over the breach rather than through the hospitable gate. She will
try and command wherever she goes; and trample over dependants and
society, with a grim consciousness that it dislikes her, a rage at its
cowardice, and an unbending will to domineer. To be old, proud, lonely,
and not have a friend in the world--that is her lot in it. As the French
lady may be said to resemble the bird which the fables say feeds her
young with her blood; this one, if she has a little natural liking for
her brood, goes hunting hither and thither and robs meat for them; And
so, I suppose, to make the simile good, we must compare the Marquis of
Farintosh to a lamb for the nonce, and Miss Ethel Newcome to a young
eaglet. Is it not a rare provision of nature (or fiction of poets, who
have their own natural history) that the strong-winged bird can soar to
the sun and gaze at it, and then come down from heaven and pounce on a
piece of carrion?
After she became acquainted with certain circumstances, Madame de Florac
was very interested about Ethel Newcome, and strove in her modest way to
become intimate with her.
Pages:
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136