ly."

"So do I, and as we have sat here together, it has seemed to me that the
good spirits were hovering over and around us, and had been, and were
even now, whispering to us the sacredness of the affinity which surely
must exist between us."

Mrs. Winslow said this in a kind of rhapsody of emotion, which betokened
both an air of sincerity derived from frequent repetition and long
practice, and a sort of superstitious belief in what she herself said;
and then poured out another glass of wine for each, while Bristol
remarked as he drank, that of late years these spirits had been a great
source of comfort to him, and that their free circulation was a good
thing for society.

An hour or two was pleasantly beguiled in this manner, but Bristol
hardly knew what course to pursue, and began to feel that in the absence
of instructions he might become altogether too familiar with the
charming woman who was making such an effort to please him. But he dare
not cause her to become angry at him, for that would destroy his
usefulness, and she seemed bound that he should admire her; so, as he
had been directed by me to continue the _role_ of the "retired banker,"
he concluded it would be better to humor Mrs. Winslow in the belief that
he was smitten by her, as she showed great anxiety that it should be so.
Accordingly, when she proposed that he should call at her apartments
that evening, he acceded to the request with such a show of pleasure
that Mrs. Winslow could not restrain her gratification, but rose and
terminated the interview by slapping Bristol heartily on the shoulder
and calling him a "dear old trump, anyhow!" And Fox, who was reading the
morning paper over a glass of beer at a little table not more than ten
feet distant, looked in blank astonishment at Bristol, as if fearing
that the woman had really bewitched him; while little Le Compte, who
stood at the entrance beyond, looked the very picture of abject jealousy
as he saw his darling lavishing endearments upon a man old enough to be
her father.

Mrs. Winslow passed out of the Fields, and noticing Le Compte, who was
retreating as rapidly as possible, beckoned to him, and when he had
approached her near enough for her to speak to him, gave him a few
quick, angry words that sent him at a rapid pace over the railroad
bridge in the direction of his rooms; while she, after a parting smile
at the beaming Bristol, who stood radiantly in the Fields' entrance,
walked into St.