Wardour, who was more severe on her than
on any one else, she was not a little afraid: from these causes
it came that Cousin Godfrey grew and grew in Letty's imagination,
until he was to her everything great and good--her idea of him
naturally growing as she grew herself under his influences. To
her he was the heart of wisdom, the head of knowledge, the arm of
strength.
But her worship was quiet, as the worship of maiden, in whatever
kind, ought to be. She knew nothing of what is called love except
as a word, and from sympathy with the persons in the tales she
read. Any remotest suggestion of its existence in her relation to
Godfrey she would have resented as the most offensive
impertinence--an accusation of impossible irreverence.
By degrees Godfrey came to understand, but then only in a
measure, with what a self-refusing, impressionable nature he was
dealing; and, as he saw, he became more generous toward her, more
gentle and delicate in his ministration. Of necessity he grew
more and more interested in her, especially after he had made the
discovery that the moment she laid hold of a truth--the moment,
that is, when it was no longer another's idea but her own
perception--it began to sprout in her in all directions of
practice. By nature she was not intellectually quick; but,
because such was her character, the ratio of her progress was of
necessity an increasing one.
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