in every party where she and he happened to be.
He was not in general a lady's man, though all ladies liked him: something of a
book-worm he was, near-sighted, spectacled, now and then abstracted. To old
ladies he was kind as a son. To men of every occupation and grade he was
acceptable: the truth, simplicity, frankness of his manners, the nobleness of
his integrity, the reality and elevation of his piety, won him friends in every
grade: his poor clerk and sexton delighted in him; the noble patron of his
living esteemed him highly. It was only with young, handsome, fashionable, and
stylish ladies he felt a little shy: being himself a plain man - plain in
aspect, plain in manners, plain in speech - he seemed to fear their dash,
elegance, and airs. But Miss Helstone had neither dash nor airs, and her native
elegance was of a very quiet order - quiet as the beauty of a ground-loving
hedge-flower. He was a fluent, cheerful, agreeable talker. Caroline could talk,
too, in a tête-à-tête: she liked Mr. Hall to come and take the seat next her in
a party, and thus secure her from Peter Augustus Malone, Joseph Donne, or John
Sykes; and Mr. Hall never failed to avail himself of this privilege when he
possibly could. Such preference shown by a single gentleman to a single lady
would certainly, in ordinary cases, have set in motion the tongues of the
gossips; but Cyril Hall was forty-five years old, slightly bald, and slightly
grey, and nobody ever said or thought he was likely to be married to Miss
Helstone. Nor did he think so himself: he was wedded already to his books and
his parish: his kind sister Margaret, spectacled and learned like himself, made
him happy in his single state; he considered it too late to change. Besides, he
had known Caroline as a pretty little girl: she had sat on his knee many a time;
he had bought her toys and given her books; he felt that her friendship for him
was mixed with a sort of filial respect; he could not have brought himself to
attempt to give another colour to her sentiments, and his serene mind could
glass a fair image without feeling its depths troubled by the reflection.
    When Miss Ainley arrived, she was made kindly welcome by every one: Mrs.
Pryor and Margaret Hall made room for her on the sofa between them, and when the
three were seated,