tly
occurred to me that I was going to lose him, which, indeed, I could but
ill bear the thoughts of; and as he told me I turned pale. "What's the
matter?" said he hastily. "I have surprised you indeed," and stepping to
the sideboard fills a dram of cordial water, which was of his own
bringing, and comes to me. "Be not surprised," said he; "I'll go nowhere
without you;" adding several other things so kind as nothing could
exceed it.

I might indeed turn pale, for I was very much surprised at first,
believing that this was, as it often happens in such cases, only a
project to drop me, and break off an amour which he had now carried on
so long; and a thousand thoughts whirled about my head in the few
moments while I was kept in suspense, for they were but a few. I say, I
was indeed surprised, and might, perhaps, look pale, but I was not in
any danger of fainting that I knew of.

However, it not a little pleased me to see him so concerned and anxious
about me, but I stopped a little when he put the cordial to my mouth,
and taking the glass in my hand, I said, "My lord, your words are
infinitely more of a cordial to me than this citron; for as nothing can
be a greater affliction than to lose you, so nothing can be a greater
satisfaction than the assurance that I shall not have that misfortune."

He made me sit down, and sat down by me, and after saying a thousand
kind things to me, he turns upon me with a smile: "Why, will you
venture yourself to Italy with me?" says he. I stopped a while, and then
answered that I wondered he would ask me that question, for I would go
anywhere in the world, or all over the world, wherever he should desire
me, and give me the felicity of his company.

Then he entered into a long account of the occasion of his journey, and
how the king had engaged him to go, and some other circumstances which
are not proper to enter into here; it being by no means proper to say
anything that might lead the reader into the least guess at the person.

But to cut short this part of the story, and the history of our journey
and stay abroad, which would almost fill up a volume of itself, I say we
spent all that evening in cheerful consultations about the manner of our
travelling, the equipage and figure he should go in, and in what manner
I should go. Several ways were proposed, but none seemed feasible, till
at last I told him I thought it would be so troublesome, so expensive,
and so public that it would be