resent situation by some unfortunate
vicissitude of fate. I was disposed to concur with this opinion, and
actually conjured him to make me his confidant, with such protestations
as left him no room to doubt my honour and beneficence; but he still
persisted in declaring himself the son of an obscure mechanic in Bohemia;
an origin to which surely no man would pretend who had the least claim to
nobility of birth. While I was thus undeceived in my conjecture touching
his birth and quality, I was confirmed in an opinion of his integrity and
moderation, and looked upon him as a man of honour, in despite of the
lowness of his pedigree. Nevertheless, he was at bottom a most
perfidious wretch, and all this modesty and self-denial were the effects
of the most villanous dissimulation, a cloak under which he, unsuspected,
robbed me of my honour and my peace.

Not to trouble you with particulars, the recital of which would tear my
heart-strings with indignation and remorse, I shall only observe, that,
by the power of his infernal insinuation, he fascinated the heart of
Serafina, brought over Antonia herself to the interests of his passion,
and at once detached them both from their duty and religion. Heaven and
earth! how dangerous, how irresistible is the power of infatuation!
While I remained in the midst of this blind security, waiting for the
nuptials of my daughter, and indulging myself with the vain prospect of
her approaching felicity, Antonia found means to protract the
negotiations of the marriage, by representing that it would be a pity to
deprive Serafina of the opportunity she then had of profiting by the
German's instructions; and, upon that account, I prevailed upon Don
Manuel to bridle the impatience of his love.

During this interval, as I one evening enjoyed the cool air in my own
garden, I was accosted by an old duenna, who had been my nurse and lived
in the family since the time of my childhood.--"My duty," said she, "will
no longer permit me to wink in silence at the wrongs I see you daily
suffer. Dismiss that German from your house without delay, if you
respect the glory of your name, and the rights of our holy religion; the
stranger is an abominable heretic; and, grant Heaven! he may not have
already poisoned the minds of those you hold most dear." I had been
extremely alarmed at the beginning of this address; but, finding the
imputation limited to the article of religion, in which, thank God, I am
no big