Milly was certainly right as to the gist of Uncle Silas's injunction, for
we saw more of Dudley henceforward.
He was shy; he was impudent; he was awkward; he was conceited;--altogether
a most intolerable bumpkin. Though he sometimes flushed and stammered, and
never for a moment was at his ease in my presence, yet, to my inexpressible
disgust, there was a self-complacency in his manner, and a kind of triumph
in his leer, which very plainly told me how satisfied he was as to the
nature of the impression he was making upon me.
I would have given worlds to tell him how odious I thought him. Probably,
however, he would not have believed me. Perhaps he fancied that 'ladies'
affected airs of indifference and repulsion to cover their real feelings. I
never looked at or spoke to him when I could avoid either, and then it was
as briefly as I could. To do him justice, however, he seemed to have no
liking for our society, and certainly never seemed altogether comfortable
in it.
I find it hard to write quite impartially even of Dudley Ruthyn's personal
appearance; but, with an effort, I confess that his features were good, and
his figure not amiss, though a little fattish.
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