Form A—Story 13 | QuestionPro

Certainly Harriet had lately been cognizant of Mr. Weston's unnecessary chivalry, but she had construed it as an aberration of judgment or taste, as one proof among others that he had not always moved in the best circles, that with all his assiduous concern for her, the accoutrements of true gentility were want¬ing. But until now she had never surmised it to mean anything; his manner must have been equivocal or she could not have been so beguiled. Contrary to her wont, she found these protestations importunate and his proposal a breach of propriety. Of course he wanted to marry well, but to have the temerity to hope for anything but amicable tolerance from one so manifestly his superior proved that he only wanted to aggrandize himself. So she need not trouble herself to feel clemency. He was proving himself assuming, conceited, very full of his own claims, and with little heed for the feelings of others.