CHAPTER XXXI 457
long veil , there bloomed under his glance a face of perfect beauty . Perfect beauty is a strong expression ; but I do not retrace or qualify it : as sweet features as ever the temperate clime of Albion moulded ; as pure hues of rose and lily as ever her humid gales and vapoury skies generated and screened , justified , in this instance , the term . No charm was wanting , no defect was perceptible ; the young girl had regular and delicate lineaments ; eyes shaped and coloured as we see them in lovely pictures , large , and dark , and full ; the long and shadowy eyelash which encircles a fine eye with so soft a fascination ; the pencilled brow which gives such clearness ; the white smooth forehead , which adds such repose to the livelier beauties of tint and ray ; the cheek oval , fresh , and smooth ; the lips , fresh too , ruddy , healthy , sweetly formed ; the even and gleaming teeth without flaw ; the small dimpled chin ; the ornament of rich , plenteous tresses -- all advantages , in short , which , combined , realise the ideal of beauty , were fully hers . I wondered , as I looked at this fair creature : I admired her with my whole heart . Nature had surely formed her in a partial mood ; and , forgetting her usual stinted step-mother dole of gifts , had endowed this , her darling , with a grand-dame ' s bounty .
What did St . John Rivers think of this earthly angel ? I naturally asked myself that question as I saw him turn to her and look at her ; and , as naturally , I sought the answer to the inquiry in his countenance . He had already withdrawn his eye from the Peri , and was looking at a humble tuft of daisies which grew by the wicket .
" A lovely evening , but late for you to be out alone ," he said , as he crushed the snowy heads of the closed flowers with his foot .
" Oh , I only came home from S- " ( she mentioned the name of a large town some twenty miles distant ) " this afternoon . Papa told me you had opened your school , and that the new mistress was come ; and so I put on my bonnet after tea , and ran up the valley to see her : this is she ?" pointing to me .
" It is ," said St . John .