going to fight for so foolish a cause, and that I might get into my
carriage again, as he would make way for me. I was somewhat interested in
his cool but pleasant manner. I got back into my chaise, and the next
night reached Amsterdam.

I put up at the excellent inn "L'Etoile d'Orient," and in the morning I
went on 'Change and found M. Pels. He told me he would think my business
over, and finding M, d'O---- directly afterwards he offered to do me my
sixty bills and give me twelve per cent. M. Pels told me to wait, as he
said he could get me fifteen per cent. He asked me to dinner, and, on my
admiring his Cape wine, he told me with a laugh that he had made it
himself by mixing Bordeaux and Malaga.

M. d'O---- asked me to dinner on the day following; and on calling I found
him with his daughter Esther, a young lady of fourteen, well developed
for her age, and exquisite in all respects except her teeth, which were
somewhat irregular. M. d'O was a widower, and had this only child;
consequently, Esther was heiress to a large fortune. Her excellent father
loved her blindly, and she deserved his love. Her skin was snow white,
delicately tinted with red; her hair was black as ebony, and she had the
most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. She made an impression on me. Her
father had given her an excellent education; she spoke French perfectly,
played the piano admirably, and was passionately fond of reading.

After dinner M. d'O---- shewed me the uninhabited part of the house, for
since the death of his wife, whose memory was dear to him, he lived on
the ground floor only. He shewed me a set of rooms where he kept a
treasure in the way of old pottery. The walls and windows were covered
with plates of marble, each room a different colour, and the floors were
of mosaic, with Persian carpets. The dining-hall was cased in alabaster,