Tuesday. April 3d.
To Malvern with Henrietta & Maddox. Met Mr. Boyd walking with Miss H M, a little past the turnpike. Not very far from the place where I met him first. How much has been felt & unfelt since then! He did not ask me to get out of the carriage & walk with him, or I would have done so; but he turned back immediately, & was at R C nearly as soon as we were. We called for one moment at Mrs. Trant’s, & she was out. H drove Maddox on nearly to the Great M turnpike, & I was left at R C. Mrs. Boyd talked to me, but about nothing interesting, either to me or her,—except that Mr. Andrè[1] was expected in England!— Annie will at last marry some one whom she cannot love, & who cannot make her happy. In to Mr. Boyd’s room. He asked me if we had not met today where we met first. His Scholefield was lying before him,—& he made me read some passages for him in the Agamemnon, & the first chorus of the Supplices, nearly from the beginning to the end. He did not, from some reason, ask me to write my name in it. He has either forgotten it, or changed his mind.
I told him of my having now read every play of Euripides; & he seemed very much surprised, & called me “a funny girl”,—& observed, that very few men had done as much.
A return to the subject of Annie’s invention respecting Mr. Boyd’s “wish of leaving Malvern.” It appears that he has mentioned it to her, & that she denies having even named his name!— The result of which denial, is, that he doubts the veracity of the other party: suggesting that B & A may have made up the story from an amiable motive as far as I am concerned—to diminish my regret in the case of Mr. Boyd’s going,—by diminishing my regard for him now!— He made me promise to propose a confrontation to Arabel. I promised: but I am annoyed at his having made a fuss about such nonsense; & told him so. When I was going away, he asked me to forgive him; & observed that he had something to forgive me, on account of my having believed the possibility of his being guilty of any conduct so “base & deceitful.” I told him that I never accused him of a long process of dessimulation,—but supposed on the contrary that he had lately changed his mind on the point in question.
He said, it wd. be only kind in Papa if he wd. consent to my spending a few days with him. There is no use in proposing such a thing.
Miss Mushet[2] goes to R C on Saturday, & leaves it on Monday with Miss H M & Annie. Annie came back from Mathon with Eliza, while I was there. Took Clarke’s commentary for Papa.[3]
In consequence of Mrs. Trant having gone to Eastnor, Henrietta was by herself & walked all over the hills in the same company. Miss H M told Mr. Boyd that she was very pretty; & that in the case of Miss H M having been a man, she wd. have fallen in love with her. She is certainly,—very pretty. Got home in good time. I thought as I drove away from the door where Miss H M & Annie were standing .. “Shall I ever see Annie standing at that door again”? Why did the thought come to me?— I half promised to go to Malvern again next Saturday,—but Miss Mushet will be there. I dont like to meet strangers. And besides, Mrs. Trant is to be here—which I dont like either.
1. Not identified, but from the context another of Annie Boyd’s suitors; he was no more successful than Mr. Biscoe.
2. Henrietta Mushet’s elder sister Margaret (1799–1885).
3. His Commentary on the Bible. See entry of 8 September 1831, note 5.
