in her
soundings, and, lastly, she _might_ chance to be on the shore when the
ship was scuttled. These were dire mistrusts, not to say very ungallant
suspicions, to haunt the heart and the head of a bridegroom; but--alas!
that we must own it--Mr. O'Shea now occupied that equatorial position in
life equally distant from the zones of youth and age, where men are
most worldly, and disposed to take the most practical views of whatever
touches their interests. It was very hard for him to believe that a
woman of such consummate cleverness as the widow had ever written a line
that could compromise her. He took a man's view of the question, and
fancied that a cool head is always cool, and a calculating heart
always alive to its arithmetic. These letters, therefore, most probably
referred to money transactions; they were, in fact, either bills, or
securities, or promises to pay, under circumstances, possibly, not
the pleasantest to make public In such affaire he had always deemed a
compromise the best course; why had she not given him a clearer insight
into his mission? In fact, he was sailing with sealed orders, to be
opened only on reaching a certain latitude. "At all events, I can do
nothing till she writes to me;" and with this grain of comfort he
solaced himself as he went along his road, trying to feel at ease, and
doing his utmost to persuade himself that he was a lucky fellow, and "on
the best thing" that had ever turned up in his life.

It is unpleasant for us to make the confession, but in his heart of
hearts Mr. O'Shea thought of a mode of guiding himself through his
difficulties, which assuredly was little in keeping with the ardor of a
devoted lover. The ex-Member for Inch was a disciple of that sect--not
a very narrow one--which firmly believes that men have a sort of masonic
understanding amongst them always to be true to each other against a
woman, and that out of a tacit compact of mutual protection they will
always stand by each other against the common enemy. If, therefore, he
could make Paten's acquaintance, be intimate with him, and on terms
of confidence, he might learn all the bearings of this case, and very
probably get no inconsiderable insight into the fair widow's life and
belongings.

Amidst a vast conflict of such thoughts as these he rolled along over
the Spluegen Alps, down the Via Mala, and arrived at last at Baden. The
season was at its full flood. There were a brace of kings there, and a
whole