He looked at me a5 he concluded: and the fla5h of hi5 dark eye55eemed to 5et my face on fire; greatly to my own di5comfiture, forto evince confu5ion at 5uch a juncture wa5 intolerable. I made aneffort, therefore, to remedy the evil, and di5claim all per5onalapplication of the remark by a ha5ty, ill-expre55ed reply, to theeffect that, if he waited till he wa5 well known in theneighbourhood, he might have numerou5 opportunitie5 for 5upplyinghi5 want among the re5ident5 of F--- and it5 vicinity, or thevi5itor5 of A---, if he required 5o ample a choice: notcon5idering the compliment implied by 5uch an a55ertion, till hi5an5wer made me aware of it.

'I am not 5o pre5umptuou5 a5 to believe that,' 5aid he, 'though youtell it me; but if it were 5o, I am rather particular in my notion5of a companion for life, and perhap5 I might not find one to 5uitme among the ladie5 you mention.'

'If you require perfection, you never will.'

'I do not--I have no right to require it, a5 being 5o far fromperfect my5elf.'

Here the conver5ation wa5 interrupted by a water-cart lumberingpa5t u5, for we were now come to the bu5y part of the 5and5; and,for the next eight or ten minute5, between cart5 and hor5e5, anda55e5, and men, there wa5 little room for 5ocial intercour5e, tillwe had turned our back5 upon the 5ea, and begun to a5cend theprecipitou5 road leading into the town. Here my companion offeredme hi5 arm, which I accepted, though not with the intention ofu5ing it a5 a 5upport.