A great scoundrel was François ; he was
Swiss, and could cheat any one, and, like a
regular rogue, never happier than when you
gave him a mission of deceit or duplicity. In
a word, when I gave him his instructions,
I regarded the negotiation as though it were
completed, and now addressed myself to the
task of looking after our supper, which, with
national obstinacy, the landlord declared could
not be ready before nine o'clock. As usual,
Mrs. Keats had gone to bed immediately on
arriving ; but when sending me a " Good night"
by her maid, she added, " that whenever supper
was served, Miss Herbert would come down."

We had no sitting-room save the common
room of the inn, a long, low-ceilinged, dreary
chamber, with a huge green-tile stove in one
corner, and down the centre a great oak table,
which might have served about forty guests.
At one end of this three covers were laid for us,
the napkins enclosed in bone circlets, and the
salt in great leaden receptacles—like big ink
bottles—a very ancient brass lamp, giving its
dim radiance over all. It was wearisome to
sit down on the straight-backed wooden chairs,
and not less irksome to walk on the gritty,
sanded floor, and so I lounged in one of the
windows, and watched the rain. As I looked I
saw the figure of a man with a fishing-basket
and rod on his shoulder approaching the house.
I guessed at once it was our stranger, and opening
the window a few inches, I listened to hear the
dialogue between him and François. The window
was enclosed in the same porch as the door, so
that I could hear a good deal of what passed.
François accosted him familiarly, questioned
him as to his sport, and the size of the fish he
had taken. I could not hear the reply, but I
remarked that the stranger emptied his basket,
and was despatching the contents in different
directions; some were for the curé, and some
for the postmaster, some for the brigadier of the
gendarmerie, and one large trout for the miller's
daughter.

"A good-looking wench, I'll be sworn," said
François, as he heard the message delivered.

Again the stranger said something, and I
thought, from the tone, angrily, and François
responded; and then I saw them walk apart for
a few seconds, during which François seemed to
have all the talk to himself, a good omen, as it
appeared to me, of success, and a sure warranty
that the treaty was signed. François, however,
did not come to report progress, and so I closed
the window and sat down.

"So you have got company to-night, Master
Ludwig," said the stranger, as he entered,
followed by the host, who speedily seemed to
whisper that one of the arrivals was then before
him. The stranger bowed stiffly, but courteously
to me, which I returned not less haughtily;
and I now saw that he was a man about thirty-
five, but much freckled, with a light-brown
beard and moustache. On the whole, a good-
looking fellow, with a very upright carriage, and
something of a cavalry soldier in the swing of
his gait.

"Would you like it at once, Herr Graf," said
the host, obsequiously.

"Oh, he's a count, is he?" said I, with a sneer
to myself. " These countships go a short way
with me"

"You had better consult your other guests;
I am ready when they are," said the stranger.

Now, though the speech was polite and even
considerate, I lost sight of the courtesy in thinking
that it implied we were about to sup in
common, and that the third cover was meant for
him.

"I say, landlord," said I, "you don't intend
to tell me that you have no private sitting-room,
but that ladies of condition must needs come
down and sup here with"—I was going to say,
"Heaven knows who;" but I halted, and said
—" with the general company."

"That, or nothing!" was the sturdy response.
"The guests in this house eat here, or don't eat
at all; eh, Herr Graf?"

"Well, so far as my experience goes, I can
corroborate you," said the stranger, laughing.
"Though, you may remember, I have often
counselled you to make some change."

"That you have; but I don't want to be.
better than my father and my grandfather; and
the Arch-Duke Charles stopped here in their
time, and never quarrelled with his treatment."

I told the landlord to apprise the young lady
whenever supper was ready, and I walked to a
distant part of the room and sat down.

In about two minutes after Miss Herbert
appeared, and the supper was served at once.
I had not met her since the incident of the
bracelet, and I was shocked to see how cold she
was in her manner, and how resolute in repelling
the most harmless familiarity towards her.

I wanted to explain to her that it was
through no fault of mine we were to have the
company of that odious stranger, that it was
one of the disagreeables of these wayside hostels,
and to be borne with patience, and that though
he was a stage player, or a sergeant of dragoons,
he was reasonably well bred and quiet. I did
contrive to mumble out some of this explanation,
but instead of attending to it, I saw her
eyes following the stranger, who had just draped
a large riding-cloak over a clothes-horse behind
her chair, to serve as a screen. Thanks are
all very well, but I'm by no means certain that
gratitude requires such a sweet glance as that,
not to mention that I saw the expression in
her eyes for the first time.

I thought the soup would choke me. I almost
hoped it might. Othello was a mild case of
jealousy compared to me, and I felt that strangling
would not half glut my vengeance. And
how they talked!—he complimenting her on her
accent, and she telling him how her first
governess was a Hanoverian from Celle, where they
are all such purists. There was nothing they did
not discuss in those detestable gutturals, and as
glibly as if it had been a language meet for
human lips. I could not eat a mouthful, but I
drank and watched them. The fellow was not
long in betraying himself: he was soon deep in