It might seem strange that his memory should not have kept her beyond
the reach of deleterious influences. But a young girl's love is any
thing but a preservative, if it shall yield her, in any aspect, other
than such pure and delicate thoughts as she would not scruple to whisper
in her mother's ear, or to ask God's blessing on at night. Should there
be any circumstance or incident, however seemingly trifling and
unimportant, in her reminiscences, which nevertheless keeps recurring to
the mind with a slight twinge of regret--a feeling that it would have
been just as well had it never happened--then is love a dangerous
companion. Gradually does the trifling spot grow upon her; in trying to
justify it, she succeeds only in lowering the whole idea of love to its
level; and this once accomplished, in all future intercourse with her
lover she must be undefended by the shield of her maidenly integrity.
And not all men are great enough not to presume on woman's weakness,
even though it be that woman, to assert whose honor and purity they
would risk their lives against the world.
Some such quality of earthiness Cornelia may have felt in the course of
her acquaintance with Bressant, preventing her love from ennobling and
elevating her. Alas! if it were so. If she cannot draw a high
inspiration from the affection which must be her loftiest sentiment,
what shall be her safeguard, and who her champion?
In the course of ten days or a fortnight, Aunt Margaret announced that
the condition of her head would admit of traveling, and the
long-expected tour began. But the more important consequences of
Cornelia's fashionable experiences had already taken place.