Not less remarkable, nor less attractive, was Cynthia, through her extraordinary beauty; a beauty that shone forth not merely in her faultless lineaments, her superb dark eyes, the wealth of her abundant tresses, her statuesque form, but that seemed to permeate her whole being with an unportrayable witchery; a captivating, elf-like piquancy, heightened by her capricious variability of mood, by the restless grace, which resembled that of a humming bird, fluttering its gorgeous pinions before the dazzled vision. When she was pleased, what a laughing sprite she seemed! And who was able to resist her winsome wiles? But alas she was very easily displeased, and frowns. gave an impish character to her chiselled features, though, strange to say, without destroying their beauty. Yet one thing did seriously impair her charms, and that was her own evident consciousness of their power.
Her disposition, under ordinary circumstances, would have been good, and her abilities excellent, but perpetual flattery weakened her intellect, and rendered her temper captious. She experienced an insatiable craving for adulation, and was listless. and dispirited, if, by chance, the unwholesome food were withheld.
If she encountered any difficulty in the pursuit of a desired object, she was quickly discouraged, and, without the faintest struggle to conquer the obstacle, weakly worried and wept over its exist-
