in hand which brought him from France into the
neighbourhood, but which made him desirous of concealment. He soon
drew from me my secret; it is marvellous, indeed, what power he had of
penetrating, ruling, moulding, my feelings and my thoughts. He wished,
at that time, a communication to be made and a letter to be given to
Alvarez. I could not execute this commission personally; for you had
informed me of your intention of watching if you could not discover or
meet with Barnard, and I knew you were absent from home on that very
purpose. Nor was Montreuil himself desirous of incurring the risk of
being seen by you,--you over whom, sooner or later, he then trusted to
obtain a power equal to that which he held over your brothers. Gerald
then was chosen to execute the commission. He did so; he met Alvarez for
the first and only time on the beach, by the town of------. You saw him,
and imagined you beheld the real Barnard.

But I anticipate; for you did not inform me of that occurrence, nor
the inference you drew from it, till afterwards. You returned, however,
after witnessing that meeting, and for two days your passions
(passions which, intense and fierce as mine, show that, under similar
circumstances, you might have been equally guilty) terminated in fever.
You were confined to your bed for three or four days; meanwhile I took
advantage of the event. Montreuil suggested a plan which I readily
embraced. I sought the Spaniard, and told him in confidence that you
were a suitor--but a suitor upon the most dishonourable terms--to his
daughter. I told him, moreover, that you had detected his schemes, and,
in order to deprive Isora of protection and abate any obstacles arising
from her pride, meant to betray him to the Government. I told him that
his best and most prudent, nay, his only chance of safety for Isora and
himself was to leave his present home and take refuge in the vast mazes
of the metropolis. I told him not to betray to you his knowledge of
your criminal intentions, lest it might needlessly exasperate you. I
furnished him wherewithal to repay you the sum which you had lent him,
and by which you had commenced his acquaintance; and I dictated to him
the very terms of the note in which the sum was to be inclosed. After
this I felt happy. You were separated from Isora: she might forget you;
you might forget her. I was possessed of the secret of her father's
present retreat: I might seek it at my pleasure, and ultimate