een inflicted by a
stag's horn. In a short half hour the patient was comfortably put to
bed, and the afflicted Donna Isabella consoled by Menou's positive
assurance, that in a very few days her husband would be well again. She
received this piece of comfort with such a thoroughly Roman Catholic
uplifting of her magnificent eyes, that I could scarcely help envying
the saints for whom that look was intended.

I had held the candle for Menou during the operation; and as I put it
down upon the table, my eyes fell upon a beautifully executed miniature
of the Mexican set in brilliants. Beside it were lying letters addressed
to Don Lopez di Santa Anna, Marischal de Campo; one or two had the
superscription, Lieutenant-general. It was no other than the celebrated
Mexican leader, the second in rank in the would-be republic, who had
been sojourning in Monsieur Menou's house under the assumed name of
Silveira. This discovery afforded me matter for reflection as I repaired
to my bed-chamber; reflections, however, which were soon forced to make
way for other thoughts of a more personally interesting nature. It was
the graceful form of Louise that now glided forward out of the
background of my imagination. She had watched, then, anxiously for our
return; and the first rumour of a mishap had drawn from her lips the
name of him for whom her heart felt most interested. During the whole
time of my residence with the Menous, I had never once dreamed of
falling in love with either of the sisters. There was so much activity
and occupation in and out of the house, that I seemed to have had no
time to indulge in sentimental reveries. Now, however, they came
crowding upon me. It was so consolatory to an unlucky bachelor, only
just recovering from a recent disappointment, to find himself an object
of tender interest a lovely and innocent girl of seventeen.

At breakfast, the next morning, Louise did not dare to look me in the
face. Without distressing her, however, I managed to look at her more
than I had ever before done; and I really wondered what I had been
thinking about, during the preceding two months, not to have sooner
found out her manifold charms and perfections. Her elder sister was too
stout for my taste, altogether on too large a scale, and with too little
of the intellectual in the expression of her features; but Louise is
unquestionably a charming creature, slender and graceful, with a sweet
archness in her countenance, and hands