, Montalvo,
under Providence, the humble purveyor of these blessings, would also
benefit to some small extent.

The difficulty was: How could the situation be created? How could
the interesting Dirk be brought to a pass that would give the lady an
opportunity of exercising her finer feelings on his behalf? If only he
were a heretic now! Well, by the Pope why shouldn't he be a heretic?
If ever a fellow had the heretical cut this fellow had; flat-faced,
sanctimonious-looking, and with a fancy for dark-coloured stockings--he
had observed that all heretics, male and female, wore dark-coloured
stockings, perhaps by way of mortifying the flesh. He could think of
only one thing against it, the young man had drunk too much last night.
But there were certain breeds of heretics who did not mind drinking too
much. Also the best could slip sometimes, for, as he had learned from
the old Castilian priest who taught him Latin, _humanum est_, etc.

This, then, was the summary of his reflections. (1) That to save the
situation, within three months or so he must be united in holy matrimony
with Lysbeth van Hout. (2) That if it proved impossible to remove the
young man, Dirk van Goorl, from his path by overmatching him in the
lady's affections, or by playing on her jealousy (Query: Could a woman
be egged into becoming jealous of that flounder of a fellow and into
marrying some one else out of pique?), stronger measures must be
adopted. (3) That such stronger measures should consist of inducing the
lady to save her lover from death by uniting herself in marriage with
one who for her sake would do violence to his conscience and manipulate
the business. (4) That this plan would be best put into execution by
proving the lover to be a heretic, but if unhappily this could not be
proved because he was not, still he must figure in that capacity for
this occasion only. (5) That meanwhile it would be well to cultivate the
society of Mynheer van Goorl as much as possible, first because he was a
person with whom, under the circumstances, he, Montalvo, would naturally
wish to become intimate, and secondly, because he was quite certain to
be an individual with cash to lend.

Now, these researches after heretics invariably cost money, for they
involved the services of spies. Obviously, therefore, friend Dirk, the
Dutch Flounder, was a man to provide the butter in which he was going to
be fried. Why, if any Hollander had a spark of humour he would see