of the heavy
but sumptuous fashion which then prevailed in the palaces of France and
Spain; and of which Venice (the true model of the barbaric decorations
with which Louis the Fourteenth corrupted the taste of Paris) was
probably the original inventor. In an alcove, beneath a silken canopy,
was prepared a table, laden with wines, fruits, and viands; and
altogether the elegance and luxury that characterised the apartment
were in strong and strange contrast with the half-ruined exterior of
the abode, the gloomy and rude approach to the chamber, and the mean and
servile aspect of the Jew, who stood, or rather cowered by the door,
as if waiting for further orders. With a wave of the hand the stranger
dismissed the Israelite; and then, approaching Beatriz, presented to her
Fonseca's letter.

As with an enchanting mixture of modesty and eagerness Beatriz, half
averting her face, bent over the well-known characters, Calderon gazed
upon her with a scrutinising and curious eye.

The courtier was not, in this instance, altogether the villain that from
outward appearances the reader may have deemed him. His plan was this:
he had resolved on compliance with the wishes of the prince--his safety
rested on that compliance. But Fonseca was not to be sacrificed without
reserve. Profoundly despising womankind, and firmly persuaded of their
constitutional treachery and deceit, Calderon could not believe the
actress that angel of light and purity which she seemed to the enamoured
Fonseca. He had resolved to subject her to the ordeal of the prince's
addresses. If she fell, should he not save his friend from being the
dupe of an artful _intriguante_?--should he not deserve the thanks
of Don Martin for the very temptation to which Beatriz was now to be
submitted? If he could convince Fonseca of her falsehood, he should
stand acquitted to his friend, while he should have secured his interest
with the prince. But if, on the other hand, Beatriz came spotless
through the trial; if the prince, stung by her obstinate virtue, should
menace to sink courtship into violence, Calderon knew that it would not
be in the first or second interview that the novice would have any real
danger to apprehend; and he should have leisure to concert her escape
by such means as would completely conceal from the prince his own
connivance at her flight. Such was the compromise that Calderon had
effected between his conscience and his ambition. But while he gazed
upon