I resumed my knack at rhyming, and
sent her a long copy of verses; anonymously to be sure; but she knew my
handwriting. They displayed, however, the most delightful ignorance on
the subject. The young lady showed them to me; wondered who they could
be written by; and declared there was nothing in this world she loved
so much as poetry: while the maiden aunt would put her pinching
spectacles on her nose, and read them, with blunders in sense and
sound, that were excruciating to an author's ears; protesting there was
nothing equal to them in the whole elegant extracts.
The fashionable season closed without my adventuring to make a
declaration, though. I certainly had encouragement. I was not perfectly
sure that I had effected a lodgment in the young lady's heart; and, to
tell the truth, the aunt overdid her part, and was a little too
extravagant in her liking of me. I knew that maiden aunts were not apt
to be captivated by the mere personal merits of their nieces' admirers,
and I wanted to ascertain how much of all this favor I owed to my
driving an equipage and having great expectations.
I had received many hints how charming their native town was during the
summer months; what pleasant society they had; and what beautiful
drives about the neighborhood. They had not, therefore, returned home
long, before I made my appearance in dashing style, driving down the
principal street. It is an easy thing to put a little quiet cathedral
town in a buzz.
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