ast," said Mervale, reasonably enough,--"wait till the
time expires; it is but another day. Baffle Zanoni. He tells thee that
he will meet thee before midnight to-morrow, and defies thee to avoid
him. Pooh! let us quit Naples for some neighbouring place, where, unless
he be indeed the Devil, he cannot possibly find us. Show him that you
will not be led blindfold even into an act that you meditate yourself.
Defer to write to her, or to see her, till after to-morrow. This is all
I ask. Then visit her, and decide for yourself."

Glyndon was staggered. He could not combat the reasonings of his friend;
he was not convinced, but he hesitated; and at that moment Nicot passed
them. He turned round, and stopped, as he saw Glyndon.

"Well, and do you think still of the Pisani?"

"Yes; and you--"

"Have seen and conversed with her. She shall be Madame Nicot before this
day week! I am going to the cafe, in the Toledo; and hark ye, when next
you meet your friend Signor Zanoni, tell him that he has twice crossed
my path. Jean Nicot, though a painter, is a plain, honest man, and
always pays his debts."

"It is a good doctrine in money matters," said Mervale; "as to revenge,
it is not so moral, and certainly not so wise. But is it in your love
that Zanoni has crossed your path? How that, if your suit prosper so
well?"

"Ask Viola Pisani that question. Bah! Glyndon, she is a prude only to
thee. But I have no prejudices. Once more, farewell."

"Rouse thyself, man!" said Mervale, slapping Glyndon on the shoulder.
"What think you of your fair one now?"

"This man must lie."

"Will you write to her at once?"

"No; if she be really playing a game, I could renounce her without a
sigh. I will watch her closely; and, at all events, Zanoni shall not be
the master of my fate. Let us, as you advise, leave Naples at daybreak
to-morrow."

CHAPTER 3.X.

O chiunque tu sia, che fuor d'ogni uso
Pieghi Natura ad opre altere e strane,
E, spiando i segreti, entri al piu chiuso
Spazi' a tua voglia delle menti umane--Deh, Dimmi!
"Gerus. Lib.," Cant. x. xviii.

(O thou, whoever thou art, who through every use bendest Nature
to works foreign and strange; and by spying into her secrets,
enterest at thy will into the closest recesses of the human
mind,--O speak! O tell me!)

Early the next morning the young Englishmen mounted their horses, and
took the road towards Baiae. Glyndon left word at