the court-yard, attended by some of the servants
with lights, in order to view the body of the man which I had found at my
arrival. His apparel was mean, his countenance ferocious; a long spado
was buckled to his thigh, and, in his belt, were stuck a brace of loaded
pistols; so that we concluded he was some thief, who had waited for an
opportunity, and seeing the casement open, intended to rob the house, but
was prevented, and slain by Don Diego himself, whose retreat, however,
did not a little confound our conjecture. For my own part, I remained
all night in the house, tortured with fear, vexation, and suspense.

"My hope was altogether disappointed by this unhappy accident; and I
shuddered at the prospect of losing Serafina for ever, either by this
mysterious malady, or by her marriage with Mendoza, which I now despaired
of being able to defeat. The major-domo having waited several hours for
his lord's return, without seeing him appear, thought proper to despatch
a messenger to Don Manuel, with an account of what had happened; and that
nobleman arriving in the morning, took possession of the house. About
four o'clock in the afternoon, Serafina began to stir, and, at five, she
and her mother were perfectly awake.

"They no sooner recovered the use of reflection, than they gave signs of
equal sorrow and amazement, and earnestly called for Isabella, who was
privy to our design, and who, after a very minute inquiry, was found in a
lone and solitary chamber, where she had been confined. Such was the
confusion of the house, that no person ever dreamed of asking how I
entered, each domestic, in all probability, supposing I had been
introduced by his fellow; so that I tarried unquestioned, on pretence of
concern for the distress of a family in which I had been so generously
entertained, and, by Isabella, sent my respects and duty to her ladies.
She was, therefore, not a little surprised, when, after every other
servant had withdrawn, she heard the lovely Serafina exclaim, with all
the violence of grief, 'Ah! Isabella, Orlando is no more!' But their
astonishment was still greater, when she assured them of my being alive,
and in the house. They recounted to her the adventure of last night,
which she explained, by informing them of the letters which Don Diego had
intercepted. And they immediately concluded, that he had, in the
precipitation of his wrath, killed, by mistake, the person who was found
dead in the court-yard