"With the greatest pleasure," he replied eagerly; and they left the parsonage together, taking the road which led to the village.
"I have so greatly enjoyed my life here," said the candidate, after they had walked for a short time in silence, "that I already quite understand the charm of this quiet, peaceful seclusion, and I own myself ready to forego all larger circles of society."
"You see," said Helena merrily, "a short time ago you shuddered at our solitude, as I did at the restless, crowded city. At a time like this," she added, with a sigh, "it is hard to be so completely cut off from the world; we literally hear nothing--what has happened to the army and the king?" she said with energy. "Our poor sovereign!"
The candidate was silent.
"Really," he said, after a short pause, continuing his own flow of thought, as if he had not heard his cousin's last words, "really one. cannot feel solitary here. Your father's conversation, so simple, yet so rich in thoughts, offers greater variety than many an assembly in the great world; and your society, dear Helena," he added warmly.
She looked at him with astonishment. "My society," she interrupted, with a smile, "cannot compensate for your friends in town; my learning----"
"Your learning!" he exclaimed hastily; "is it learning that charms us in a woman?"
"A certain amount must be needful," said she, half jokingly, "when conversing with a learned man."
"Not for me," he cried. "Natural simplicity of heart and intellect has a charm for me. A man wishes to form, to educate his wife, not to find her opinions already fixed," he cried, his voice assuming a sudden tenderness of expression.
Her eyes were raised to his for a moment, and then lowered. They walked on for a time in silence.