He
no sooner showed himself, than a confused sense of impropriety,
added to the suddenness of the interview, for which, not having
foreseen it, I had made no preparation, threw me into a state of
the most painful embarrassment. He brought with him a placid brow;
but no sooner had he cast his eyes upon me than his face was as
glowingly suffused as my own. He placed the cup upon the bench,
stammered out thanks, and retired.
It was some time before I could recover my wonted composure. I had
snatched a view of the stranger's countenance. The impression that
it made was vivid and indelible. His cheeks were pallid and lank,
his eyes sunken, his forehead overshadowed by coarse straggling
hairs, his teeth large and irregular, though sound and brilliantly
white, and his chin discolored by a tetter. His skin was of coarse
grain and sallow hue. Every feature was wide of beauty, and the
outline of his face reminded you of an inverted cone.
And yet his forehead, so far as shaggy locks would allow it to be
seen, his eyes lustrously black, and possessing, in the midst of
haggardness, a radiance inexpressibly serene and potent, and
something in the rest of his features which it would be in vain to
describe, but which served to betoken a mind of the highest order,
were essential ingredients in the portrait.
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