None other need apply--no references given
or asked. Inquire for _Somnus_."
I laid down the paper, and drew a long, free breath; then rang a peal of
merriment, startling under the circumstances. It was the first hearty
laugh that had left my lips for many days. "What an oddity, one or the
other of these people must be!" I thought, "the man most probably--yes,
I am sure it is he--no woman ever was so independent of references, or
made youth a _sine qua non_, nor elocution either. But am I soundly
constituted? ay, there's the rub! suppose my terrible foe sees fit to
interfere, 'Epilepsy,' as Evelyn called it, and perhaps with reason--God
alone knows!--what then? Well, I will hazard it--that is all--I will
charge nothing for lost days, and try to be zealous in the interval;
besides, it is a long time since one of these obliteration spells
occurred; for I shall ever believe Evelyn dosed me for her own purposes
on that last occasion! Fiend!--fiend!--and yet my little sister _must_
remain in such hands for a season, protected by her guardian angel
only."
I passed a feverish night, employing the first part of it in quilting my
diamonds into a belt which I placed about my waist; and the remainder in
putting together as many useful, as well as a few handsome clothes, as
my travelling-trunk would contain; bonnets, evening-dresses, which
require room to dispose of, and the like vanities, I abandoned to
Evelyn's tender mercies.
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