ificent. As for Leonora, she was at her wit's end
with amazement at the sight of such gorgeous finery, for the best she
had ever worn in her life had been but a serge petticoat and a silk
jacket.

The second proof of jealousy given by Felipe was, that he would not
consummate his marriage until he had provided a house after his own
fancy, which he arranged in this singular manner. He bought one for
twelve thousand ducats, in one of the best wards of the city, with a
fountain and pond, and a garden well stocked with orange trees. He put
screens before all the windows that looked towards the street, leaving
them no other prospect than the sky, and did much the same with all the
others in the house. In the gateway next the street, he erected a stable
for a mule, and over it a straw loft, and a room for an old black
eunuch, who was to take care of the mule. He raised the parapets round
the flat roof of the house so high, that nothing could be seen above
them but the sky, and that only by turning one's face upwards. In the
inner door, opening from the gateway upon the quadrangle, he fixed a
turning box like that of a convent, by means of which articles were to
be received from without. He furnished the house in a sumptuous style,
such as would have become the mansion of a great lord; and he bought
four white slave girls, whom he branded in the face, and two negresses.
For the daily supplies of his establishment he engaged a purveyor, who
was to make all the necessary purchases, but was not to sleep in the
house or ever enter it further than to the second door, where he was to
deposit what he had brought in the turning box. Having made these
arrangements, Carrizales invested part of his money in sundry good
securities; part he placed in the bank, and the rest he kept by him to
meet any emergencies that might arise. He also had a master key made for
his whole house; and he laid up a whole year's store of all such things
as it is usual to purchase in bulk at their respective seasons; and
everything being now ready to his mind, he went to his father-in-law's
house and claimed his bride, whom her parents delivered up to him with
no few tears, for it seemed to them as if they were giving her up for
burial.

Leonora knew not, poor young creature, what was before her, but she shed
tears because she saw her parents weep, and taking leave of them with
their blessing, she went to her new home, her husband leading her by the
hand, and