If this man be an impostor, you may be
too much agitated by your feelings to detect his villainy. If, which I
cannot believe, there be any truth in what he pretends, you shall not be
exposed alone to a communication of so extraordinary a nature. I will
go with you, if indeed you determine to go. But yet reconsider your
project, and renounce inquiries which cannot be prosecuted without
guilt, and perhaps without danger."

Lady Forester threw herself into her sister's arms, and, clasping her
to her bosom, thanked her a hundred times for the offer of her company,
while she declined with a melancholy gesture the friendly advice with
which it was accompanied.

When the hour of twilight arrived--which was the period when the Paduan
Doctor was understood to receive the visits of those who came to consult
with him--the two ladies left their apartments in the Canongate of
Edinburgh, having their dress arranged like that of women of an inferior
description, and their plaids disposed around their faces as they were
worn by the same class; for in those days of aristocracy the quality of
the wearer was generally indicated by the manner in which her plaid
was disposed, as well as by the fineness of its texture. It was Lady
Bothwell who had suggested this species of disguise, partly to avoid
observation as they should go to the conjurer's house, and partly in
order to make trial of his penetration, by appearing before him in a
feigned character. Lady Forester's servant, of tried fidelity, had been
employed by her to propitiate the Doctor by a suitable fee, and a
story intimating that a soldier's wife desired to know the fate of her
husband--a subject upon which, in all probability, the sage was very
frequently consulted.

To the last moment, when the palace clock struck eight, Lady Bothwell
earnestly watched her sister, in hopes that she might retreat from her
rash undertaking; but as mildness, and even timidity, is capable at
times of vehement and fixed purposes, she found Lady Forester resolutely
unmoved and determined when the moment of departure arrived. Ill
satisfied with the expedition, but determined not to leave her sister at
such a crisis, Lady Bothwell accompanied Lady Forester through more than
one obscure street and lane, the servant walking before, and acting
as their guide. At length he suddenly turned into a narrow court, and
knocked at an arched door which seemed to belong to a building of some
antiquity. It opened