The stout gentleman rose with fury in his looks. He burst out with an oath; and added the in tolerable question, already three times repeated by others: "How did you get here?" The tone was even more offensive than the oath. "Your age protects you, sir, "said Cosway, with the loftiest composure. "I'm sorry I gave my name to so rude a person.""Rude?" shouted the old gentleman. "You want my name in return, Isuppose? You young puppy, you shall have it! My name is Restall."He turned his back and walked off. Cosway took the only course now open to him. He returned to his lodgings.
The next day no letter reached him from Adela. He went to the postoffice. No letter was there. The day wore on to evening--and, with the evening, there appeared a woman who was a stranger to him. She looked like a servant; and she was the bearer of a mysterious message.
"Please be at the garden-door that opens on the lane, at ten o'clock to-morrow morning. Knock three times at the door--and then say 'Adela.' Some one who wishes you well will be alone in the shrubbery, and will let you in. No, sir! I am not to take anything; and I am not to say a word more." She spoke--and vanished.
