as preparing a room, though I must own that I did not venture to
inquire of that lady. I have said very little about Madam Clough
hitherto. She was a very good woman, but, in our estimation, not to be
compared to Lady Anne. She demanded far more attention and respect as
her due, and never allowed us the slightest approach to intimacy;
indeed, she seemed to consider that we were in all respects her
inferiors. Still she was, as I have said, a worthy woman, and knew how
to do her duty. She was inclined to be charitable, as far as helping
those who came to her in distress; and I have no doubt that in her own
place at Plasclough, in Denbighshire, where she and her husband resided
when making holiday, she acted the Lady Bountiful to perfection.

It must be confessed that, after the news we had received, I felt a
strange trepidation at my heart, and made a variety of mistakes in the
letters I was inditing, for which I received due verbal castigation from
Master Clough. What other young lady could be coming besides Aveline?
A'Dale, I rather suspect, hoped, for his own sake, that she might be
some stranger; for though he admired Aveline, yet he was aware of my
feelings with regard to her, and he was too true a friend to wish to
interfere in the matter.

I slept very little, it must be owned, that night. I was thinking of
Aveline--how she would appear; how she would treat me: whether, in the
light of an old friend, or, after having seen so many great and wealthy
people, be inclined to look upon me as her inferior. I kept twisting
and turning the subject in every possible way, till I made myself
perfectly miserable; and it was not till at last I thought that perhaps,
after all, the lady who was expected might not be Aveline, that I
dropped to sleep.

A bright idea occurred to me in the morning. It would be but respectful
if A'Dale and I were to ride out to meet Sir Thomas Gresham as he
approached Antwerp. I suggested the same to Master Clough, and, having
got through all the work he required of us at an early hour, we were
perfectly ready to set forth. He threw no objection in the way. We
therefore ordered our horses, and as soon as we could with decency leave
the office, we rode forth by the northern gate from the city. We, I
must confess, had calculated, from the information gained from the
courier, that Sir Thomas would not arrive for at least two or three
hours after that time. We should thus have an opportunit