“‘I shall put myself under your protection, for I am also going to London.’
“‘I shall be most delighted.’
“‘Au revoir.’
“About an hour afterwards a message was brought to me by the garçon, that the lady would be happy to receive me at Number 19. I ascended to the second floor, knocked, and was told to come in.
“She was now without a veil; and what do you think was her reason for the concealment of her person?”
“By the beard of Mokhanna, how can I tell?”
“Well, then, she had two of the most beautiful eyes in the world; her eyebrows were finely arched; her forehead was splendid; her mouth was tempting,—in short, she was as pretty as you could wish a woman to be, only she had broken her nose,—a thousand pities, for it must once have been a very handsome one. Well, to continue, I made my bow.
“‘You perceive now, sir,’ said she, ‘why I wore my veil down.’
“‘No, indeed,’ replied I.
“‘You are very polite, or very blind,’ rejoined she; ‘the latter I believe not to be the fact. I did not choose to submit to the impertinence of my own countrymen in the diligence; they would have asked me a hundred questions upon my accident. But you are an Englishman, and have respect for a female who has been unfortunate.’