'Madam,' said I, 'if you are a vision, it is of no consequence; but if not, I want particularly to get out.' 'Offer no injury,' she replied, in a tremulous voice, 'and no one will molest you. Take what you have come for, and begone.' 'That is sooner said than done. The doors and windows below are locked and bolted; and beneath those of this room the area is deep, and the spikes sharp. I assure you, I have been in very considerable perplexity the whole of last night;' and drawing a chair, I sat down in front of her. Whether it was owing to this action, or to my complaining voice, or to the mere fact of her finding herself in a quiet tete-a-tete with a housebreaker, I cannot tell; but the lady broke into a low hysterical laugh. 'How did you break in?' said she. 'I did not break: it is far from being my character, I assure you. But the area-window was open, and so I just thought I would come in.' 'You were attracted by the plate! Take it, for Heaven's sake, desperate man, and go away!' 'I did take some of it, but with no evil intention--only by way of amusement. Here it is;' and going to the sofa, I drew off the cover, and shewed her the plant. 'You have been generous,' said she, her voice getting quaverous again; 'for the whole must have been in your power. I will let you out so softly that no one will know. Put up in your pockets what you have risked so much to possess, and follow me.' 'I will follow you with pleasure,' said I, 'were it all the world over;' for the increasing light shewed me as lovely a creature as the morning sun ever shone upon; 'but as for the plunder, you must excuse me there: I never stole anything before, and, please Heaven, I never will again!' 'Surely you are a most extraordinary person,' said the young lady suddenly, for the light seemed to have made a revelation to her likewise: 'you neither look nor talk like a robber.' 'Nor am I. I am not even a robber--I am nothing; and have not property in the world to the value of these articles of plate.' 'Then if you are not a robber, why are you here?--why creep in at the area-window, appropriate other people's spoons, and get locked up all night in their house?' 'For no other reason, than that I was in a hurry. I had come home from Barcelona, and was going in to my guardian's, next door, when your unfortunate area-window caught my eye, with the plate on the table inside. In an instant, I was over the rails and in through the window like a harlequin, with the intention of giving the family a pleasing surprise, and my old monitress, sister Laura, a great moral lesson on the impropriety of her leaving plate about in so careless a way.' 'Then you are Gerald, my dear Laura's cousin, so longingly expected--so beloved by them all--so'----Here the young lady blushed celestial rosy red, and cast down her eyes. What these two girls could have been saying to each other about me, I never found out; but there was a secret, I will go to death upon it.