t unacquainted--the
anxiety, the concealment, the flight we had passed through to secure our
union, enhanced the rapture with which we now met never to be sundered
again.

That evening I related to her what had happened the night before, and
she gave me an account of the manner in which she had managed to escape
from the dwarf's house; for, in spite of the self-possession with which
she described the incident, it more nearly resembled an escape than a
departure. In fact, she had left the house in the morning, on foot, and
was expected back, as usual, to luncheon after her walk. But luncheon
passed, and there were no tidings of her; and, at dinner-time, a brief
note by the post announced her leave-taking, excusing its abruptness, on
the ground of a sudden and urgent call into the country. This was, no
doubt, the subject which the angry shadows on the blinds had been so
vehemently discussing the night before. So violent an infraction of
etiquette would have pained me seriously had it occurred under any other
circumstances, or had it been inflicted upon any other persons than the
members of that eccentric family. But we knew them well; how unlike they
were to the rest of the world, and how slight an impression the mere
breach of courtesy would make upon them, in comparison with the
malicious curiosity it would awaken! They were like Bohemians in their
habits and ways of thinking; and were themselves so accustomed to
violate established usages, that the most extravagant irregularities
could not very materially surprise them. This consideration reconciled
me to a proceeding which must otherwise have been a source of regret to
me, on Astraea's account; besides, I was by no means unwilling to accept
the sacrifice she had thus made of her own independence as an additional
proof of her attachment.

But what was the cause of all these stratagems and concealments? I
should learn that the next day. I saw that Astraea was suffering under a
despondency natural enough to her novel situation, and I patiently
waited her own time for disclosures which I now began to look forward to
with nervous apprehensions.

The house in which I found her lay buried in the foliage of a secluded
valley. It was in the cottage style, covered with creepers that dropped
in at the windows, and filled the rooms with scent; and it belonged to
people in an humble rank of life, who had known Astraea from her infancy,
and were devoted to her interest. Under th