Yet that charm no words can describe was stronger than my reason.

Away from her I disliked her; my judgment was all against her; in her presence no man could help being fascinated.
I thank Heaven that I had the shield of a pure and holy love; I was but a weak man, and nothing else saved me.

If there came a wet day, or one that was not pleasant for walking, she had a thousand ways of making time fly.

She played billiards as well as any man; she read aloud more beautifully and perfectly than I have ever heard any one else.

She made every room she entered cheerful; she had a fund of anecdote that never seemed to be exhausted.
But the time she liked best for weaving her spells was after sunset, before the lamps were lighted.
"You are fond of music, Sir Edgar," she would say to me.