There was a delicacy of finish in her
features--in the nose and the lips especially--a sensitive
changefulness in the expression of her eyes (too dark in themselves to
be quite in harmony with her light hair), and a subtle yet simple
witchery in her rare smile, which atoned, in some degree at least, for
want of complexion in the face and of flesh in the figure. Men might
dispute her claims to beauty--but no one could deny that she was, in
the common phrase, an interesting person. Grace and refinement; a
quickness of apprehension and a vivacity of movement, suggestive of
some foreign origin; a childish readiness of wonder, in the presence of
new objects--and perhaps, under happier circumstances, a childish
playfulness with persons whom she loved--were all characteristic
attractions of the modest stranger who was in the charge of the ugly
old woman, and who was palpably the object of that wrinkled duenna's
devoted love.
A travelling writing-case stood open on a table near them. In an
interval of silence the girl looked at it reluctantly. They had been
talking of family affairs--and had spoken in Italian, so as to keep
their domestic secrets from the ears of the strangers about them. The
old woman was the first to resume the conversation.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33