“That she must herself explain: it lies not in my knowledge. Wait with patience for the night of Saturday: all shall be then cleared up.”

I dared not press him further. He soon after changed the conversation and talked of various matters. He named people who had ceased to exist for many centuries, and yet with whom he appeared to have been personally acquainted. I could not mention a country however distant which he had not visited, nor could I sufficiently admire the extent and variety of his information. I remarked to him that having travelled, seen, and known so much, must have given him infinite pleasure. He shook his head mournfully.