This page has been validated.
228
THE EUROPEANS.
[CH.
"Of hospitality?—an abuse?" his uncle repeated very slowly,
"That is what Felix said to me," said Charlotte conscientiously.
"Of course you think so; don't defend yourself!" Felix pursued. "It is an abuse, obviously; the most I can claim is that it is perhaps a pardonable one. I simply fell head over heels in love; one can hardly help that. Though you are Gertrude's progenitor I don't believe you know how attractive she is. Dear uncle, she contains the elements of a singularly—I may say a strangely—charming woman!"
"She has always been to me an object of extreme concern," said Mr. Wentworth. "We have always desired her happiness."
