F--- was a village about two miles distant from A-.
'No,' said I; 'we live so completely out of the world, even here, that news seldom reaches me through any quarter; except through the medium of the--Gazette. But I hope you like your new parish; and that I may congratulate you on the acquisition?'
'I expect to like my parish better a year or two hence, when I have worked certain reforms I have set my heart upon--or, at least, progressed some steps towards such an achievement. But you may congratulate me now; for I find it very agreeable to HAVE a parish all to myself, with nobody to interfere with me--to thwart my plans or cripple my exertions: and besides, I have a respectable house in a rather pleasant neighbourhood, and three hundred pounds a year; and, in fact, I have nothing but solitude to complain of, and nothing but a companion to wish for.'
He looked at me as he concluded: and the flash of his dark eyes seemed to set my face on fire; greatly to my own discomfiture, for to evince confusion at such a juncture was intolerable. I made an effort, therefore, to remedy the evil, and disclaim all personal application of the remark by a hasty, ill-expressed reply, to the effect that, if he waited till he was well known in the neighbourhood, he might have numerous opportunities for supplying his want among the residents of F--- and its vicinity, or the visitors of A---, if he required so ample a choice: not considering the compliment implied by such an assertion, till his answer made me aware of it.
'I am not so presumptuous as to believe that,' said he, 'though you tell it me; but if it were so, I am rather particular in my notions of a companion for life, and perhaps I might not find one to suit me among the ladies you mention.'
'If you require perfection, you never will.'
'I do not--I have no right to require it, as being so far from perfect myself.'
Here the conversation was interrupted by a water-cart lumbering past us, for we were now come to the busy part of the sands; and, for the next eight or ten minutes, between carts and horses, and asses, and men, there was little room for social intercourse, till we had turned our backs upon the sea, and begun to ascend the precipitous road leading into the town. Here my companion offered me his arm, which I accepted, though not with the intention of using it as a support.