"Shee was a Sweet Child,"
he remembers; and now that the dew of their youth is upon them both,
he finds her "of a Graceful and Delicate Shape, with the Most
Beautiful Countenance in the World, a Sweet & Modest Demeanour, a
Sprightly Wit, an Accomplish'd Mind, & a Heart Fix'd upon Virtue."
The estates are near each other, the families intimate friends.
Emily seems to like the boy. At any rate, she doesn't repel him. And
then returns Richard--the gay, the handsome, the irresistible
Richard--who adds to the stalwart comeliness of a colonial gentleman
the style, the grace, the cultivated manners of the Old World.
Almost fiercely Freeman notes the effect he produces, and how "Women
do catch an Admiration for him as't were a Pox."
Then he begins to set down, grimly, "The Sums my Father hath paid
for My Brother's Debts." A little later, he adds: "You Might Pour
the Atlantic Ocean full of Gold through his Pocketts & Overnight
would He empty Them." Richard, also, "Makes Choice of rake-hell
Companions," to his father's growing unease and indignation, his
mother's distress. But "Good God! how is all Forgiven the Beautiful,
the Gift'd!"
"Jezebel herself, that carries her Head so High, wears her Heart
upon her Sleeve, een like a simple Milkmaid! 'Tis a Rare Spectacle.
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