 so fully
appreciated each other's character before the burst of passion in which they
hastily pledged their faith to each other, Lucy might have feared Ravenswood too
much ever to have loved him, and he might have construed her softness and docile
temper as imbecility, rendering her unworthy of his regard. But they stood
pledged to each other; and Lucy only feared that her lover's pride might one day
teach him to regret his attachment; Ravenswood, that a mind so ductile as Lucy's
might, in absence or difficulties, be induced, by the entreaties or influence of
those around her, to renounce the engagement she had formed.
    »Do not fear it,« said Lucy, when upon one occasion a hint of such suspicion
escaped her lover; »the mirrors which receive the reflection of all successive
objects are framed of hard materials like glass or steel - the softer
substances, when they receive an impression, retain it undefaced.«
    »This is poetry, Lucy,« said Ravenswood, »and in poetry there is always
fallacy, and sometimes fiction.«
    »Believe me, then, once more, in honest prose,« said Lucy, »that, though I
will never wed man without the consent of my parents, yet neither force nor
persuasion shall dispose of my hand till you renounce the right I have given you
to it.«
    The lovers had ample time for such explanations. Henry was now more seldom
their companion, being either a most unwilling attendant upon the lessons of his
tutor, or a forward volunteer under the instructions of the foresters or grooms.
As for the Keeper, his mornings were spent in his study, maintaining
correspondences of all kinds, and balancing in his anxious mind the various
intelligence which he collected from every quarter concerning the expected
change in Scottish politics, and the probable strength of the parties who were
about to struggle for power. At other times he busied himself about arranging,
and countermanding, and then again arranging, the preparations which he judged
necessary for the reception of the Marquis of A--, whose arrival had been twice
delayed by some necessary cause of detention.
    In the midst of all these various avocations, political and domestic, he
seemed not to observe how much his daughter and his guest were thrown into each
other's society, and was censured by many of his neighbours, according to the
fashion of neighbours in all countries, for suffering such an intimate
connection to take place betwixt two young persons. The only natural explanation
was, that he designed them for each other; while, in truth, his only motive
