She differed from Isabella Gonzales but little in character, save in
the tenderness and womanliness, so to speak, of her heart-that she
could not control; otherwise she possessed all the pride and
self-conceit that her parentage and present position were calculated
to engender and foster. On Lorenzo's Bezan's first appearance at
court she had been attracted by his youth, his fame, the absence of
pride in his bearing, and the very subdued and tender, if not
melancholy, cast of his countenance. She was formally introduced to
him by the queen, and was as much delighted by the simple sincerity
of his conversation as she had been by his bearing and the fame that
preceded his arrival at the court. She had long been accustomed to
the flirting and attention of the court gallants, and had regarded
them with little feeling; but there was one who spoke from the
heart, and she found that he spoke to the heart, also, for she was
warmly interested in him at once.
On his part, naturally polite and gallant, he was assiduous in every
little attention, more so from the feeling of gratitude for the
friendship she showed to him who was so broken-hearted. Intercourse
of days and hours grew into the intimacy of weeks and months, and
they became friends, warm friends, who seemed to love to confide in
each other the whole wealth of the soul.
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