n
the same manner as the human eye is supposed to awe into impotence
the malignant intentions of the ignobler animals. Yet nothing could be
blander than the demeanour of the Abbe Montreuil; nothing more worldly,
in their urbanity, than his manner and address. His garb was as little
clerical as possible, his conversation rather familiar than formal, and
he invariably listened to every syllable the good knight uttered with a
countenance and mien of the most attentive respect.

What then was the charm by which the singular man never failed to obtain
an ascendency, in some measure allied with fear, over all in whose
company he was thrown? This was a secret my uncle never could solve, and
which only in later life I myself was able to discover. It was partly by
the magic of an extraordinary and powerful mind, partly by an expression
of manner, if I may use such a phrase, that seemed to sneer most, when
most it affected to respect; and partly by an air like that of a man
never exactly at ease; not that he was shy, or ungraceful, or even
taciturn,--no! it was an indescribable embarrassment, resembling that of
one playing a part, familiar to him, indeed, but somewhat distasteful.
This embarrassment, however, was sufficient to be contagious, and to
confuse that dignity in others, which, strangely enough, never forsook
himself.

He was of low origin, but his address and appearance did not betray
his birth. Pride suited his mien better than familiarity; and his
countenance, rigid, thoughtful, and cold, even through smiles, in
expression was strikingly commanding. In person he was slightly
above the middle standard; and had not the texture of his frame
been remarkably hard, wiry, and muscular, the total absence of all
superfluous flesh would have given the lean gauntness of his figure an
appearance of almost spectral emaciation. In reality, his age did not
exceed twenty-eight years; but his high broad forehead was already so
marked with line and furrow, his air was so staid and quiet, his
figure so destitute of the roundness and elasticity of youth, that his
appearance always impressed the beholder with the involuntary idea of a
man considerably more advanced in life. Abstemious to habitual
penance, and regular to mechanical exactness in his frequent and severe
devotions, he was as little inwardly addicted to the pleasures and
pursuits of youth, as he was externally possessed of its freshness and
its bloom.

Nor was gravity with