I wished, secretly, that he would not be so hospitable, for the kinder he was, the harder it would be to find an excuse to get away from the house.
At eleven o’clock I began to yawn, and seeing this, he conducted me to my bed-room. “We have no fixed breakfast hour,” said he, “so you may choose your own time to leave your bed. I rarely close my eyes before half-past four, and am therefore seldom up before ten. But Teazer is usually down by half-past eight, so you may depend upon finding somebody to look after you.”
I shook hands with him, and he went away. I felt more wearied than sleepy. The night was very sultry, and I threw my window wide open before getting into bed. A brilliant moon rode high, and whilst I watched it I thought of Conny, and wondered if her dear eyes were upon it, and if she were thinking of me. Sweet girl! I pictured her delicate features upturned to the benign light, and the chastity they would take in the radiance. What a contrast between the two cousins! What a pity Theresa was so unmannerly! Her face haunted me. I am afraid it sometimes eclipsed Conny’s. How came it so gross a mind should be so finely clothed? From what did her eyes take their fire? Surely not from her heart. After all, what was she but a handsome animal? She could shoot, she could ride; she was very fit for the backwoods. What a wretched voice she had! what a feeble touch! And her father declared she could play and sing well! How slangy her language was, how beautiful her complexion, how inelegant her movements, how perfect her figure, how——!
Here I fell asleep.
I could hardly have slept longer than half-an-hour, when I started up broad awake, and stared about me. The moon was still high; the room was filled with its light.
What had awakened me?
Here something knocked three times upon the door. I presumed that the knocks fell upon the door; but, for all I knew, the sounds might have come from the floor, the ceiling, or the walls.
Here was an old house! Had it a ghost?
I sat upright in my bed, meaning to wait until the knocks sounded again before I called “Come in.” To my horror, the handle of the door was turned with exquisite caution, and the door was opened stealthily.
Burglars! I thought, and instantly looked towards the fender.