her part, but solely by a ludicrous
consciousness that if she were to ask him for a description of her
destined bridegroom, he would be forced to confess that he had not once
seen his face, and if called upon, would find it absolutely impossible
to identify him. Upon the next day, Gerard Douw, after dinner, called
his niece to him and having scanned her person with an air of
satisfaction, he took her hand, and looking upon her pretty innocent
face with a smile of kindness, he said:----

"Rose, my girl, that face of yours will make your fortune." Rose blushed
and smiled. "Such faces and such tempers seldom go together, and when
they do, the compound is a love charm, few heads or hearts can resist;
trust me, you will soon be a bride, girl. But this is trifling, and I am
pressed for time, so make ready the large room by eight o'clock
to-night, and give directions for supper at nine. I expect a friend; and
observe me, child, do you trick yourself out handsomely. I will not have
him think us poor or sluttish."

With these words he left her, and took his way to the room in which his
pupils worked.

When the evening closed in, Gerard called Schalken, who was about to
take his departure to his own obscure and comfortless lodgings, and
asked him to come home and sup with Rose and Vanderhausen. The
invitation was, of course, accepted and Gerard Douw and his pupil soon
found themselves in the handsome and, even then, antique chamber, which
had been prepared for the reception of the stranger. A cheerful wood
fire blazed in the hearth, a little at one side of which an
old-fashioned table, which shone in the fire-light like burnished gold,
was awaiting the supper, for which preparations were going forward; and
ranged with exact regularity, stood the tall-backed chairs, whose
ungracefulness was more than compensated by their comfort. The little
party, consisting of Rose, her uncle, and the artist, awaited the
arrival of the expected visitor with considerable impatience. Nine
o'clock at length came, and with it a summons at the street door, which
being speedily answered, was followed by a slow and emphatic tread upon
the staircase; the steps moved heavily across the lobby, the door of the
room in which the party we have described were assembled slowly opened,
and there entered a figure which startled, almost appalled, the
phlegmatic Dutchmen, and nearly made Rose scream with terror. It was the
form, and arrayed in the garb of Minhee