It is somewhat singular that such a radiant, fair young creature should have touched the heart of a man of so coarse a mould as Charles Peace.
But so it was. He saw her by chance at her mother’s residence, and he was struck with her grace and beauty.
Her influence over him was so powerful that for a short time he became quite an altered man.
He dressed with scrupulous care, was soft and gentle, and indeed it might be said winning in his manner.
Aveline Maitland, utterly unconscious of the fact that she had made a conquest of her mother’s visitor, treated him with courtesy, and conversed freely with him upon the various topics of the day.
Mrs. Maitland gave a party one evening. Peace, who heard of this, volunteered to play the violin to the dancers.
The widow availed herself of his services, and he made himself particularly agreeable to all the guests.
After this he procured a box at the theatre, and escorted the widow and her daughter. During the performance he was most polite and attentive to both the females.
It was a source of great trouble to him, however, that the fair Aveline did not offer him any encouragement. On the contrary, he could not conceal from himself that she was cold and distant.
Nevertheless he did not despair. It is an old adage, “That faint heart never won fair lady.” Peace was mindful of this. Most assuredly his was not a faint heart at any period of his career.