r seen, or even heard of; and, would you believe it?"--this
with a quizzical look at his host's grave face--"this misguided old
lady took such a violent dislike to me at first sight, and expressed
it so thoroughly well, that, hang me if I was not completely brought
to. And all for escorting my dear one from Lady Maria's house to her
own! Well, the walk was worth it--though the old crocodile was on the
watch for us, ready to snap; had got wind of the secret, somehow, a
secret unspoken even between us two. This first and last interview
took place on the flags, in front of No. 17 Camden Place, Bath. Oh! It
was a very one-sided affair from the beginning, and ended abruptly in
a door being banged in my face. Then I heard about Miss O'Donoghue's
peculiarities in the direction of exclusiveness. And then, also, oddly
enough, for the first time, of the great fortune going with my
Madeleine's hand. Of course I saw it all, and, I may say, forgave the
old lady. In short, I realised that, in Miss O'Donoghue's mind, I am
nothing but an unprincipled fortune-seeker and adventurer. Now you,
Adrian, can vouch that, whatever my faults, I am none such."

Sir Adrian threw a quiet glance at his friend, whose eyes sparkled as
they met it.

"God knows," continued the latter, "that all I care for, concerning
the money, is that _she_ may have it. This last venture, the biggest
and most difficult of all, I then decided to undertake, that I might
be the fitter mate for the heiress--bless her! Oh, Adrian, man, could
you have seen her sweet tearful face that night, you would understand
that I could not rest upon such a parting. In the dawn of the next
morning I was in the street--not so much upon the chance of meeting,
though I knew that such sweetness would have now to be all stolen--but
to watch her door, her window; a lover's trick, rewarded by lover's
luck! Leaning on the railings, through the cold mist (cold it was,
though I never felt it, but I mind me now how the icicles broke under
my hand), what should I see, before even the church-bells had set to
chiming, or the yawning sluts to pull the kitchen curtains, but a
bloated monster of a coach, dragging and sliding up the street to
halt at her very door. Then out came the beldam herself, and two
muffled-up slender things--my Madeleine one of course; but I had a
regular turn at sight of them, for I swear I could not tell which was
which! Off rattled the chariot at a smart pace; and there I stoo