at youth never fails to create, particularly in those who,
like her, were addicted to solitude and study.

Teresa, full fraught with the wily injunctions of her confederate, took
the field, and opened the campaign with such remarkable sourness in her
aspect when Ferdinand appeared, that her young lady could not help taking
notice of her affected chagrin, and asked the reason of such apparent
alteration in her way of thinking. Prepared for this question, the other
replied, in a manner calculated for giving Mademoiselle to understand,
that, whatever impressions Ferdinand might have formerly made on her
heart, they were now altogether effaced by the pride and insolence with
which he had received her advances; and that her breast now glowed with
all the revenge of a slighted lover.

To evince the sincerity of this declaration, she bitterly inveighed
against him, and even affected to depreciate those talents, in which she
knew his chief merit to consist; hoping, by these means, to interest
Mademoiselle's candour in his defence. So far the train succeeded. That
young lady's love for truth was offended at the calumnies that were
vented against Ferdinand in his absence. She chid her woman for the
rancour of her remarks, and undertook to refute the articles of his
dispraise. Teresa supported her own assertions with great obstinacy, and
a dispute ensued, in which her mistress was heated into some extravagant
commendations of our adventurer.

His supposed enemy did not fail to make a report of her success, and to
magnify every advantage they had gained; believing, in good earnest, that
her lady's warmth was the effect of a real passion for the fortunate Mr.
Fathom. But he himself viewed the adventure in a different light, and
rightly imputed the violence of Mademoiselle's behaviour to the
contradiction she had sustained from her maid, or to the fire of her
natural generosity glowing in behalf of innocence traduced.
Nevertheless, he was perfectly well pleased with the nature of the
contest; because, in the course of such debates, he foresaw that he
should become habitually her hero, and that, in time, she would actually
believe those exaggerations of his merit, which she herself had feigned,
for the honour of her own arguments.

This presage, founded upon that principle of self-respect, without which
no individual exists, may certainly be justified by manifold occurrences
in life. We ourselves have known a very pregnant e