of which he did not scruple to take the advantage; for
they had scarce alighted, and drunk a glass of wine, when he advised his
sister to enjoy a walk in the garden; and although the attendant made
shift to keep them almost always in view, they enjoyed a detached
conversation, in which Peregrine learned that the true cause of her
being left behind at Brussels, whilst her husband proceeded to Spa, was
his dread of the company and familiarities of that place, to which his
jealousy durst not expose her; and that she had lived three weeks in a
convent at Lisle, from which she was delivered by his own free motion,
because indeed he could no longer exist without her company; and,
lastly, our lover understood that her governante was a mere dragon,
who had been recommended to him by a Spanish merchant, whose wife she
attended to her dying day; but she very much questioned whether or not
her fidelity was proof enough against money and strong waters. Peregrine
assured her the experiment should be tried before parting; and they
agreed to pass the night at Versailles, provided his endeavours should
succeed.

Having exercised themselves in this manner, until his duenna's spirits
were pretty much exhausted, that she might be the be the better
disposed to recruit them with a glass of liqueur, they returned to their
apartment, and the cordial was recommended and received in a bumper; but
as it did not produce such a visible alteration as the sanguine hopes
of Pickle had made him expect, and the old gentlewoman observed that it
began to be late, and that the gates would be shut in a little time, he
filled up a parting glass, and pledged her in equal quantity. Her blood
was too much chilled to be warmed even by this extraordinary dose, which
made immediate innovation in the brain of our youth, who, in the gaiety
of his imagination, overwhelmed this she-Argus with such profusion of
gallantry, that she was more intoxicated with his expressions than with
the spirits she had drunk. When in the course of toying he dropped a
purse into her bosom, she seemed to forget how the night wore, and,
with the approbation of her charge, assented to his proposal of having
something for supper.

This was a great point which our adventurer had gained; and yet he
plainly perceived that the governante mistook his meaning, by giving
herself credit for all the passion he had professed. As this error could
be rectified by no other means than those of plying he