e forlorn Teresa, how shall I refuse or accept such
protestations?"

Harry feared to say more; a horrid pang of jealousy transfixed him; and
he had scarce the strength of mind to take his leave with decency. In
the solitude of his own chamber, he gave way to every manifestation of
despair. He passionately adored the Senorita; but it was not only the
thought of her possible union with another that distressed his soul, it
was the indefeasible conviction that her suitor was unworthy. To a duke,
a bishop, a victorious general, or any man adorned with obvious
qualities, he had resigned her with a sort of bitter joy; he saw himself
follow the wedding party from a great way off; he saw himself return to
the poor house, then robbed of its jewel; and while he could have wept
for his despair, he felt he could support it nobly. But this affair
looked otherwise. The man was patently no gentleman; he had a startled,
skulking, guilty bearing; his nails were black, his eyes evasive, his
love perhaps was a pretext; he was perhaps, under this deep disguise, a
Cuban emissary! Harry swore that he would satisfy these doubts; and the
next evening, about the hour of the usual visit, he posted himself at a
spot whence his eye commanded the three issues of the square.

Presently after, a four-wheeler rumbled to the door; and the man with
the chin-beard alighted, paid off the cabman, and was seen by Harry to
enter the house with a brown box hoisted on his back. Half an hour
later, he came forth again without the box, and struck eastward at a
rapid walk; and Desborough, with the same skill and caution that he had
displayed in following Teresa, proceeded to dog the steps of her
admirer. The man began to loiter, studying with apparent interest the
wares of the small fruiterer or tobacconist; twice he returned hurriedly
upon his former course; and then, as though he had suddenly conquered a
moment's hesitation, once more set forth with resolute and swift steps
in the direction of Lincoln's Inn. At length, in a deserted by-street,
he turned; and coming up to Harry with a countenance which seemed to
have become older and whiter, inquired with some severity of speech if
he had not had the pleasure of seeing the gentleman before.

"You have, sir," said Harry, somewhat abashed, but with a good show of
stoutness; "and I will not deny that I was following you on purpose.
Doubtless," he added, for he supposed that all men's minds must still be
running on