nd his
conversation gay and unrestrained. The merit of this reformation was in
a great measure ascribed to the care and example of Mr. Fathom, who was
received by the old Count and his lady with marks of singular friendship
and esteem; nor was he overlooked by Mademoiselle, who still remained in
a state of celibacy, and seemed to have resigned all hope of altering her
condition; she expressed uncommon satisfaction at the return of her old
favourite, and readmitted him into the same degree of familiarity with
which he had been honoured before his departure.

The joy of Teresa was so excessive at his arrival, that she could scarce
suppress her raptures, so as to conceal them from the notice of the
family; and our hero, upon this occasion, performed the part of an
exquisite actor, in dissembling those transports which his bosom never
knew. So well had this pupil retained the lessons of her instructor,
that, in the midst of those fraudulent appropriations, which she still
continued to make, she had found means to support her interest and
character with Mademoiselle, and even to acquire such influence in the
family, that no other servant, male or female, could pretend to live
under the same roof, without paying incessant homage to this artful
waiting-woman, and yielding the most abject submission to her will.

The young gentlemen having tarried at Presburg about six weeks, during
which a small field equipage was prepared for Renaldo, they repaired to
the camp at Heilbron, under the auspices of Count Melvil, in whose
regiment they carried arms as volunteers, with a view to merit promotion
in the service by their own personal behaviour. Our adventurer would
have willingly dispensed with this occasion of signalising himself, his
talents being much better adapted to another sphere of life;
nevertheless, he affected uncommon alacrity at the prospect of gathering
laurels in the field, and subscribed to his fortune with a good grace;
foreseeing, that even in a campaign, a man of his art and ingenuity might
find means to consult his corporal safety, without any danger to his
reputation. Accordingly, before he had lived full three weeks in camp,
the damp situation, and sudden change in his way of life, had such a
violent effect upon his constitution, that he was deprived of the use of
all his limbs, and mourned, without ceasing, his hard fate, by which he
found himself precluded from all opportunity of exerting his diligence,
co