Though pair'd in Heaven, in Paradise were curs'd."
People of this sort contemplate marriage in a very unpoetical manner. They have great faith that correct intention and common sense are the best guides; and, although they may not feel less transported with their prospects than other people, they are apt to remember that it is "transportation for life."
A great deal has been said of the marriage of Abernethy, and very much of it in proof of his eccentricity of character; but if a steady reliance on earnestness, sincerity, and common sense, on an occasion on which one or other of these qualities are sometimes laid aside, and the employment of the highest qualities of the mind for the most important purposes be wise, we must, if we admit the eccentricity of Abernethy, concede to him the less-equivocal merit of practical wisdom. Himself a sensible and clever man, and a great admirer of these qualifications in others, he was not very likely to ally himself to any lady who appeared deficient in such characteristics.
Abernethy had a very quick perception of character, and his profession afforded him ample opportunities for the exercise and the cultivation of this faculty. He would not have been very likely to lay it aside on an occasion when a judicious and successful exercise of it, as distinguished from mere impulse or first impression, is of more consequence than on almost any other.
Miss Anne Threlfall was the daughter of a gentleman who had retired from business, and who it appears had been residing in the town of the far-famed Edmonton. This lady was intimate with the family of Mr. Hodgson, where Abernethy was also a frequent visitor.
It was at Mr. Hodgson's that Mr. Abernethy first made the acquaintance of her who was destined to exert so considerable an influence on his future happiness.
In the unrestrained intercourse of the society of intimate mutual friends, a man of Abernethy's penetration would not be long in discovering the amiable or the estimable qualities of an agreeable woman.
Mrs. Abernethy added to personal attractions of no common order, great good sense, and a very lively, ladylike manner. These had not been without their influence, on their first meeting; and a few additional interviews, which the usual precursor of an undefinable pleasure in her society served to accelerate, not only confirmed his first impressions, but seem to have deepened them into sentiments of warm respect and affection. Now, supposing his opinion formed, his resolution taken, there was still a difficulty—Abernethy was remarkably shy, and extremely sensitive.
His whole time was absorbed in teaching, studying, and practising his profession; his rising ambition just getting success within its grasp. How was resolution or opportunity to be found for the tardigrade, time-consuming process of a regular siege? Still, after all, the shyness was the real Rubicon which he felt a difficulty in passing. Common Sense said to a sensitive Conscience, "You are about to ask a lady to entrust to you her happiness for life." "Ah!" said Conscience, "that is indeed a great deal to ask of any one." And Shyness said it was equally difficult to know what to say, how to make the request, or brook a refusal. The difficulty with Abernethy was so great, that there is some reason to doubt whether he could have got over it, had he been left entirely to his own resources.