it
requires no beard to discover that I have made an ass of myself. Now,
what do you say, shall we take lodgings and live more reputably, for
while in this tavern we never shall be able to do so?"

"I should prefer it, to tell you the honest truth," I replied, "for I
have no pleasure in our present life."

"Be it so, then," he replied. "I will tell them that I take lodgings,
that I may be near to a fair lady. That will be a good and sufficient
excuse."

The next day we secured lodgings to our satisfaction, and removed into
them, leaving our horses and men at the tavern. We boarded with the
family, and as there were others who did the same, we had a very
pleasant society, especially as there were many of the other sex among
the boarders. The first day that we sat down to dinner, I found myself
by the side of a young man of pleasing manners, although with much of
the coxcomb in his apparel. His dress was very gay and very expensive,
and he wore a diamond-hilted sword and diamond buckles--at least so
they appeared to me, as I was not sufficient connoisseur to
distinguish the brilliant from the paste. He was very affable and
talkative, and before dinner was over gave me the history of many of
the people present.

"Who is the dame in the blue stomacher?" I inquired.

"You mean the prettiest of the two, I suppose," he replied, "that one
with the patches under the eye? She is a widow, having just buried an
old man of sixty, to whom she was sacrificed by her mother. But
although the old fellow was as rich as a Jew, he found such fault with
the lady's conduct that he left all his money away from her. This is
not generally known, and she takes care to conceal it, for she is
anxious to make another match, and she will succeed if her funds,
which are not _very_ great, enable her to carry on the game a little
longer. I was nearly taken in myself, but an intimacy with her cousin,
who hates her, gave me a knowledge of the truth. She still keeps her
carriage, and appears to be rolling in wealth, but she has sold her
diamonds and wears paste. And that plain young person on the other
side of her has money, and knows the value of it. She requires
rent-roll for rent-roll, and instead of referring you to her father
and mother, the little minx refers you to her lawyer and man of
business. Ugly as she is, I would have sacrificed myself, but she
treated me in that way, and upon my soul I was not very sorry for it,
for she is dear at any