Major
Conway had left a wife in England, which shut out any feelings of
rivalry with him. L'Isle was thus quite at his ease, and showed to
much advantage; for it is surprising how agreeable some people can
make themselves when they are bent upon it. He combined the qualities
of a good talker and a good listener; was communicative to the major;
yet more attentive to his lordship; and most careful, above all
things, to turn the conversation to topics interesting to Lady Mabel,
who, while listening, asking questions, and offering an occasional
remark, was fast coming to the conclusion that L'Isle, young as he
was, was by far the best informed and most considerate man in the
brigade. She more particularly wondered how, while tied down to his
military duties, he had found time to master the languages, history,
topography, and even the antiquities of the peninsula. He knew
personally many a Spaniard and Portuguese who had made himself
conspicuous for good or ill, at this fearful crisis of his country's
history. He thoroughly understood the people, with all their virtues
and their vices, that perhaps outweigh those virtues; yet he seemed by
no means to despise them.
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