himself such influence as might best shield Lady Temple from further
annoyance, he must school himself to meet his brother with coolness
and patience. It was not, however, without strong effort that he was
able to perceive that, from the outer point of view, one who, when a
mere child, had become the wife of an aged general, might, in her
early widowhood, be supposed open to the addresses of a man of higher
rank and fewer years, and the more as it was not in her nature to
look crushed and pathetic. He, who had known her intimately
throughout her married life and in her sorrow, was aware of the quiet
force of the love that had grown up with her, so entirely a thread in
her being as to crave little expression, and too reverent to be
violent even in her grief. The nature, always gentle, had recovered
its balance, and the difference in years had no doubt told in the
readiness with which her spirits had recovered their cheerfulness,
though her heart remained unchanged. Still, retired as her habits
were, and becoming as was her whole conduct, Colin began to see that
there had been enough of liveliness about her to lead to Lord Keith's
mistake, though not to justify his want of delicacy in the
precipitation of his suit.

These reflections enabled him at length to encounter his brother with
temper, and to find that, after all, it had been more like the
declaration of an intended siege than an actual summons to surrender.
Lord Keith was a less foolish and more courteous man than might have
been gathered from poor Fanny's terrified account; and all he had
done was to intimate his intention of recommending himself to her,
and the view with which he had placed himself at Avonmouth; nor was
he in the slightest degree disconcerted by her vehemence, but rather
entertained by it, accepting her faithfulness to her first husband's
memory as the best augury of her affection for a second. He did not