No fire-eater, yet truly brave, he weighed the matter well, and decided
on his course; the one most expedient, if not absolutely necessary for a
stranger whose character for courage had still to be proved. In the
interval of the pending duel, of which all the inmates of Beauseincourt
were unconscious, save its master, who considered it as a mere matter of
course, Gregory (to whom I have alluded, the evil genius of the house
henceforth) arrived to reenforce the engineering corps.
Subtle, accomplished, versatile, graceful even in his singular
homeliness, and peculiar insolent style of address, he yet made himself
so acceptable to the family as to dare to seek the hand of the second
daughter of Colonel La Vigne, and, though at first tolerated by her
parents only, at last came to be well received.
At the very time that he was enlisting the innocent heart of Madge, he
was making to me, the governess, whenever he could find the slightest
opportunity, avowals of a desperate and audacious passion, which waxed
the stronger for the absolute loathing vouchsafed in return. In this
place it may be as well to reveal the end of this ill-fated and
unsuitable courtship, which never had my sanction, nor even toleration.
When the cloud gathered over Beauseincourt, so soon to burst in fury and
destruction, when ruin was imminent, Gregory withdrew on frivolous
pretexts, and turned his back on Lesdernier, and her who had so loved
him, forever!
While pretending to be the devoted friend and even abject servant of
Captain Wentworth, he was seeking, in every way, and on every hand,
secretly to undermine him.
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