She was beautiful, and she did not regard it; she was
accomplished, but she did not attempt a display; what she acquired
from education, the graces had so incorporated with her native
intelligence, that the perfection of her character seemed to have
been stamped at once by the beneficent hand of Providence.
Never were her numberless attractions so fascinating to Thaddeus as
when he witnessed the generous eagerness with which, forgetful of her
own almost unparalleled talents, she pointed out merit and dispensed
applause to the deserving. Miss Beaufort's nature was gentle and
benevolent; but it was likewise distinguishing and animated. Whilst
the count saw that the urbanity of her disposition made her
politeness universal, he perceived that neither rank, riches nor
splendor, when alone, could extract from her bosom one spark of that
lambet flame which streamed from her heart, like fire to the sun,
towards the united glory of genius and virtue.
He dwelt on her lovely, unsophisticated character with an enthusiasm
bordering on idolatry. He recollected that she had been educated by
the mother of Pembroke Somerset; and turning from the double
remembrance with a sigh fraught with all the bitterness and sweetness
of love, he acknowledged how much wisdom (which includes virtue)
gives spirit and immortality to beauty. "Yes," cried he, "it is the
fragrance of the flower, which lives after the bloom is withered.
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