“No, Roland, my way lies thither,” said he, pointing towards the west; “I have been too long your guest already.” “How do you mean?” cried Roland, in amazement. “Simply, that for seven weeks I have lived beneath your roof. The narrative is too long for a moment like this; but enough if I tell you that it was a plot of Maritaña's, who, had I not acceded to the notion, would have disguised herself and come hither, to watch and see with her own eyes how you played the great man. To save her from such a step, when all persuasion failed, I came here as the sailor Giovanni.” “You Giovanni?” “Ay, Roland; and if wealth had not blinded you so effectually, you had soon seen through the counterfeit. As Giovanni, I saw your daily life,--the habits of your household; the sterling worth and fidelity of the men you made your friends; and let me tell you, Cashel, our old associates of the Villa de las Noches were men of unblemished honor compared with those well-bred companions of your prosperity. Often and often have I been upon the brink of declaring myself, and then have I held back, sometimes from a curiosity to see the game played out, sometimes anxious to know how far this course of treachery might be carried on without its awakening your suspicions. At length, I actually grew weary of seeing you the dupe. I almost ceased to feel interest in one who could be imposed upon with such slender artifice. I forgot, Roland, that I was the looker-on, and not the player of the game. It was in this mood of mind I had half determined to leave your house, and suffer you to go down the stream as chance might pilot, when I discovered that treachery had taken a higher flight than I suspected; and that, not content with the slow breaching of your fortune by play and reckless waste, your utter ruin, your very beggary had been compassed!” Cashel started back, and grasped the other's arm tightly, but never spoke. “Are you still so infatuated as not to guess the traitor?” cried Enrique. “You mean Linton?” “I do.” “But are you certain of what you speak? or do you mistake the cunning devices of a subtle mind for the darker snares of downright treachery?” “You shall hear,” said Enrique. “Sit down hereupon this stone; I have some hours before I sail. The vessel leaves Limerick to-morrow for Naples; and thither I am bound, for Maritaña is there. No, no, my dear friend, you must not ask me to stay; I have remained longer than I ought; but I waited for the time when I might be able to recompense you for having thus played the spy upon your actions. Hear me out patiently now, for that hour is come.” As Cashel seated himself beside Enrique, it was only by a great effort he could compose himself to listen, when a hundred questions came thronging to his mind, and doubts and inquiries, of every possible kind, demanded explanation.