His figure, though slightly inclined to stoutness, was still graceful, and he carried himself with a good bearing and a quiet manner, which, might well pass for dignity.

So much for his appearance.

Intellectually, in Veronica's narrow experience of the world, he was quite beyond comparison with any one she knew.

It is true that she really knew hardly any one.

But her own intelligence enabled her to judge with tolerable fairness of his capacities, and she had found these varied and broadly developed, precisely in the direction of her own tastes.
Lastly, Matilde was right in counting upon the existing intimacy as a factor in the case.