Paul de Walberg. 413 



We had been companions some time before I became aware 



that he had any relation resident in P , or that he maintained 



any recognised establishment. I was, however, agreeably unde- 

 ceived. One evening, when our communications were sufficiently 

 intimate to turn upon personal matters, he satisfied me upon both 

 points. " I am somewhat particular," said he," made so by cir- 

 cumstances in my male acquaintance, which will account for my 

 not having earlier introduced you to my only surviving relation. 



She is my sister, and at present resident in P . I shall have the 



pleasure this evening, if agreeable, of introducing her to you. I 

 think you will be pleased by her society. You will, at once, be able 

 to perceive my motives for not, in the first instance, having made 

 you acquainted. It is not every person with whom I associate that 

 I would be solicitous of presenting to her. We are, sometimes, ex- 

 cusably delicate on these points ; are we not? " 



" We are ; and it adds to my esteem to find you so." 



" We have passed," said he, " the bounds'of mere acquaintanceship, 

 and I trust that our ripening friendship will, contrary to what is ordi- 

 narily the case, be enduring. Attracted first to your society by the 

 dictates of courtesy, I regard it now as a thing to be coveted. I am 

 not wont to flatter, and therefore my assertions are more worthy 

 of credibility. I trust that we shall be able to lighten the tedium 



of your stay in P . You do not, I believe, contemplate long 



remaining?" 



" I do not," said I. " Matters may' by a possibility, take a con- 

 trary turn and lengthen the duration of my visit : but if things fall 

 out as I anticipated before my arrival, I shall, in a few days, receive 

 directions to move to another part of the country." 



The evening had deepened into twilight ere we arrived at Wai- 

 berg's house. I was surprised at its good appearance. I had looked 

 upon him, certainly, as a person of consideration, but was not pre- 

 pared for the very great superiority of his abode. I had, indeed, 

 detected in his air and address the insinuating politesse of the higher 

 class ; but he was wholly free from the hauteur which too usually 

 accompanies it. His dress was handsome, but unpretending, and his 

 conversation was remarkable for being indifferent to the " pride, and 

 pomp, and circumstance" of fashion and distinction. I set him down 

 in my own mind for a gentleman a character too often associated 

 with appearances and pretension. There was little, indeed, of the 

 latter in the composition of Walberg. He appeared to despise cere- 

 mony as a base coin generally substituted for the sterling ore of ci- 

 vility, and seemed to look with an eye of elevated contempt upon 

 the frivolous barriers with which dignity seeks to fortify its exclu- 

 siveness. 



Walberg's house was situated in one of the best of the retired 

 streets. It was old-fashioned, though handsome and spacious balus- 

 trades ran along the front, antique pilasters supported the upper 

 cornice, moulded architraves edged the windows, and the door was 

 approached by a handsome flight of stone steps. Approaching his 

 house, Walberg quitted my arm and motioned me to precede him. 



