not fail to attend to what passed on this occasion. I remarked
that the utmost deference was paid to my companion, on whom his entrance
into this company appeared to operate like magic. His eyes sparkled; his
features expanded into a benign serenity; and his wonted reserve gave
place to a torrent-like and overflowing elocution.

I marked this change in his deportment with the utmost astonishment. So
great was it, that I could hardly persuade myself that it was the same
person. A mind thus susceptible of new impressions must be, I conceived,
of a wonderful texture. Nothing was further from my expectations than
that this vivacity was mere dissimulation and would take its leave of
him when he left the company; yet this I found to be the case. The door
was no sooner closed after him than his accustomed solemnity returned.
He spake little, and that little was delivered with emphatical and
monosyllabic brevity.

We returned home at a late hour, and I immediately retired to my
chamber, not so much from the desire of repose as in order to enjoy and
pursue my own reflections without interruption.

The condition of my mind was considerably remote from happiness. I was
placed in a scene that furnished fuel to my curiosity. This passion is a
source of pleasure, provided its gratification be practicable. I had no
reason, in my present circumstances, to despair of knowledge; yet
suspicion and anxiety beset me. I thought upon the delay and toil which
the removal of my ignorance would cost, and reaped only pain and fear
from the reflection.

The air was remarkably sultry. Lifted sashes and lofty ceilings were
insufficient to attemper it. The perturbation of my thoughts affected my
body, and the heat which oppressed me was aggravated, by my
restlessness, almost into fever. Some hours were thus painfully past,
when I recollected that the bath, erected in the court below, contained
a sufficient antidote to the scorching influence of the atmosphere.

I rose, and descended the stairs softly, that I might not alarm Welbeck
and the lady, who occupied the two rooms on the second floor. I
proceeded to the bath, and, filling the reservoir with water, speedily
dissipated the heat that incommoded me. Of all species of sensual
gratification, that was the most delicious; and I continued for a long
time laving my limbs and moistening my hair. In the midst of this
amusement, I noticed the approach of day, and immediately saw the
propriety of ret