myself, but thinking that I should
not care to see my lover degraded to the rank of a servant, I determined
that he should be my wife, supposing that the captain of the ship did not
know him by sight.

"'As soon as we get to England,' I thought, 'we will get married, and can
resume our several dresses. This marriage will efface whatever shame may
be attached to our flight; they will say, perhaps, that the count carried
me off; but a girl is not carried off against her will, and Oeiras surely
will not persecute me for having made the fortune of his favourite. As to
our means of subsistence, till I get my rents, I can sell my diamonds,
and they will realize an ample sum.'

"The next day, when I told my lover of this strange plan, he made no
objections. The only obstacle which he thought of was the circumstance
that the sea-captain might know him by sight, and this would have been
fatal; but as he did not think it likely we determined to run the risk,
and it was agreed that he should get me the clothes for the new part I
was to play.

"I saw my lover again after an interval of three days; it was nightfall
when he came. He told me that the Admiralty had informed him that the
ship was riding at the mouth of the Tagus, and that the captain would put
out to sea as soon as he had delivered his dispatches and had received
fresh instructions. Count Al was consequently requested to be at a
certain spot at midnight, and a boat would be in waiting to take him on
board.

"I had made up my mind, and this was enough for me; and after having
fixed the time and place of meeting, I shut myself up, pretending to be
unwell. I put a few necessaries into a bag, not forgetting the precious
jewel-casket, and I dressed myself up as a man and left the house by a
stair only used by the servants. Even the porter did not see me as I made
my escape.

"Fearing lest I should go astray the count was waiting for me at a short
distance, and I was pleasantly surprised when he took me by the arm,
saying, ''Tis I.' From this careful action, simple though it was, I saw
that he had intelligence; he was afraid to catch hold of me without
making himself known. We went to a house where he had his trunk, and in
half an hour his disguise was made. When all was ready a man came for our
slight baggage, and we walked to the river where the count was waiting
for us. It was eleven o'clock when we left land, and thinking my jewels
would be safer in his pocket than