door again upon the outside.

"Whom have you there?" inquired I, making a strong effort to appear
calm.

"Perhaps," said he musingly, "you might have some objection to seeing
her, at least for a time."

"Who is it?" repeated I.

"Why," said he, "I see no use in hiding it--the blind Dutchwoman; I
have been with her the whole morning. She is very anxious to get
out of that closet, but you know she is odd, she is scarcely to be
trusted."

A heavy gust of wind shook the door at this moment with a sound as if
something more substantial were pushing against it.

"Ha, ha, ha!--do you hear her," said he, with an obstreperous burst
of laughter. The wind died away in a long howl, and Lord Glenfallen,
suddenly checking his merriment, shrugged his shoulders, and
muttered--

"Poor devil, she has been hardly used."

"We had better not tease her at present with questions," said I, in as
unconcerned a tone as I could assume, although I felt every moment as
if I should faint.

"Humph! may be so," said he, "well, come back in an hour or two, or