y that I should support at the same time two
opposite characters, and at once play the cavalier and lively soldier
for the eyes of Ronald, and to the ears of Flora maintain the same
profound and sentimental note that I had already sounded. Certainly
there are days when all goes well with a man; when his wit, his
digestion, his mistress are in a conspiracy to spoil him, and even the
weather smiles upon his wishes. I will only say of myself upon that
evening that I surpassed my expectations, and was privileged to delight
my hosts. Little by little they forgot their terrors and I my caution;
until at last we were brought back to earth by a catastrophe that might
very easily have been foreseen, but was not the less astonishing to us
when it occurred.

I had filled all the glasses. "I have a toast to propose," I whispered,
"or rather three, but all so inextricably interwoven that they will not
bear dividing. I wish first to drink to the health of a brave and
therefore a generous enemy. He found me disarmed, a fugitive and
helpless. Like the lion, he disdained so poor a triumph; and when he
might have vindicated an easy valour, he preferred to make a friend. I
wish that we should next drink to a fairer and a more tender foe. She
found me in prison; she cheered me with a priceless sympathy; and what
she has done since, I know she has done in mercy, and I only pray--I
dare scarce hope--her mercy may prove to have been merciful. And I wish
to conjoin with these, for the first, and perhaps the last time, the
health--and I fear I may already say the memory--of one who has fought,
not always without success, against the soldiers of your nation; but who
came here, vanquished already, only to be vanquished again by the loyal
hand of the one, by the unforgettable eyes of the other."

It is to be feared I may have lent at times a certain resonancy to my
voice; it is to be feared that Ronald, who was none the better for his
own hospitality, may have set down his glass with something of a clang.
Whatever may have been the cause, at least, I had scarce finished my
compliment before we were aware of a thump upon the ceiling overhead. It
was to be thought some very solid body had descended to the floor from
the level (possibly) of a bed. I have never seen consternation painted
in more lively colours than on the faces of my hosts. It was proposed to
smuggle me forth into the garden, or to conceal my form under a
horsehair sofa which stood a