"
The youth spoke with a tone and manner the most tender yet respectful,
which necessarily relieved from all perplexity that feeling of propriety
and maiden delicacy which otherwise must have made her situation an
awkward one. Ralph was not so dull, however, as not to perceive that to
a livelier emotion he might in justice attribute the conduct of his
companion; but, with a highly-honorable fastidiousness, he himself
suggested a motive for her proceeding which her own delicacy rendered
improper for her utterance. Still the youth was not marble exactly: and,
as he spoke, his arm gently encircled her waist; and her form, as if
incapable of its own support, hung for a moment, with apathetic
lifelessness, upon his bosom; while her head, with an impulse not
difficult to define, drooped like a bending and dewy lily upon his arm.
But the passive emotion, if we may so style it, was soon over; and, with
an effort, in which firmness and feebleness strongly encountered, she
freed herself from his hold with an erect pride of manner, which gave a
sweet finish to the momentary display which she had made of womanly
weakness.
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