ose a madhouse for my cure." "No, no,"
says he, "I do not mean anything like that; I hope the head may be
distempered and not the brain." Well, I was too sensible that he was
right, for I knew I had acted a strange, wild kind of part with him; but
he insisted upon it, and pressed me to go into the country. I took him
short again. "What need you," says I, "send me out of your way? It is in
your power to be less troubled with me, and with less inconvenience to
us both."

He took that ill, and told me I used to have a better opinion of his
sincerity, and desired to know what he had done to forfeit my charity.
I mention this only to let you see how far I had gone in my measures of
quitting him--that is to say, how near I was of showing him how base,
ungrateful, and how vilely I could act; but I found I had carried the
jest far enough, and that a little matter might have made him sick of me
again, as he was before; so I began by little and little to change my
way of talking to him, and to come to discourse to the purpose again as
we had done before.

A while after this, when we were very merry and talking familiarly
together, he called me, with an air of particular satisfaction, his
princess. I coloured at the word, for it indeed touched me to the quick;
but he knew nothing of the reason of my being touched with it. "What
d'ye mean by that?" said I. "Nay," says he, "I mean nothing but that you
are a princess to me." "Well," says I, "as to that I am content, and yet
I could tell you I might have been a princess if I would have quitted
you, and believe I could be so still." "It is not in my power to make
you a princess," says he, "but I can easily make you a lady here in
England, and a countess too if you will go out of it."

I heard both with a great deal of satisfaction, for my pride remained
though it had been balked, and I thought with myself that this proposal
would make me some amends for the loss of the title that had so tickled
my imagination another way, and I was impatient to understand what he
meant, but I would not ask him by any means; so it passed off for that
time.

When he was gone I told Amy what he had said, and Amy was as impatient
to know the manner how it could be as I was; but the next time
(perfectly unexpected to me) he told me that he had accidentally
mentioned a thing to me last time he was with me, having not the least
thought of the thing itself; but not knowing but such a thing might be
of som