have always been in earnest!” said Agnes, laughing again.
“Oh! that was as a child, or a schoolboy,” said I, laughing in my turn, not without being a little shamefaced. “Times are altering now, and I suppose I shall be in a terrible state of earnestness one day or other. My wonder is, that you are not in earnest yourself, by this time, Agnes.”
Agnes laughed again, and shook her head.
“Oh, I know you are not!” said I, “because if you had been you would have told me. Or at least”—for I saw a faint blush in her face, “you would have let me find it out for myself. But there is no one that I know of, who deserves to love you , Agnes. Someone of a nobler character, and more worthy altogether than anyone I have ever seen here, must rise up, before I give my consent. In the time to come, I shall have a wary eye on all admirers; and shall exact a great deal from the successful one, I assure you.”