"
He was utterly incapable of being lionized. Time and again, under the
trees in the court of the hotel, did I hear him enter upon some pleasant
story, lighted up with that rare turn of his eye, and by his deft
expressions, when, as chance acquaintances grouped about him,--as is the
way of watering-places,--and eager listeners multiplied, his hilarity
and spirit took a chill from the increasing auditory, and drawing
abruptly to a close, he would sidle away with a friend and be gone.
Among the visitors was a tall, interesting young girl--from Louisiana,
if I mistake not--who had the reputation of being a great heiress, and
who was, of course, beset by a host of admirers. There was something
very attractive in her air, and Mr. Irving was never tired of gazing on
her as she walked, with what he called a "faun-like step," across the
lawn, or up and down the corridors. Her eyes too--"dove-like," he
termed them--were his special admiration. He watched with an amused
interest the varying fortunes of the rival lovers, and often met me
with--"Well, who is in favor to-day?" And he discussed very freely the
varying chances.
One brusque, heavy man, who thought to carry the matter through by a
_coup de main_, he was sure could never succeed.
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