“Well! put that away safely, and my man shall summon the cab for you, and to-morrow I am to come and give you a lesson in reading and conversation, is that not so? I very much want to cure you of some of your funny little ways, Hannah, and it is so strange to me, that sometimes you appear to have quite cured them for yourself, and then you break out again, as bad as ever. Here is the cab! and here is your wrap. Well! Good-bye till to-morrow, and mind you remember me to Ricardo.” He watched her drive away in the direction of her home, and walked back into his own, dissatisfied with himself, and all the world. What on earth, he thought, had made him give way to that impulse to kiss his friend’s wife twice in one evening? He did not admire her! How could he admire a coarse, under-bred woman, with huge hands and feet, and an accent that set his teeth on edge? And yet there had been something about her that evening, that had attracted him more powerfully than he had considered her capable of attracting anybody--than he had considered himself capable of being attracted. It was not entirely her appearance, though she had looked better than he had ever seen her look before--it was a kind of animalism and magnetism, combined, which had made his senses reel, and caused him to forget her position and his faith to his old friend, Ricardo. Karl von Steinberg hated himself for what had occurred, and yet he felt that, should the time come over again, he should behave in exactly the same manner. She was a wonderful combination, he thought, of sorcery and coquetry, and gross, inanimate earth! He knew that the Professor did not love Hannah as a man should love his wife--he had told him so direct, yet should he find out that she was tampered with by his friend, he might be provoked into jealousy and view the matter in a very disagreeable light. So that--Von Steinberg decided--for the future, Hannah should be sacred to him! At the same time, he could not endure the idea that she should do for his acquaintances what she had done for him--go to their houses and make herself as common as a professional medium! He was resolved that, at all costs, he would put a stop to that, even if he were compelled to side with Ricardo, and resolve she should never sit, except at home. He tried to disgust himself with her, but he could not! He recalled all the deficiencies of her womanhood--told himself that she was coarse, ignorant, and cunning--that she was a woman to be ashamed, not proud, of--and yet he felt drawn back and back to thoughts of her, as though she had been the Goddess of Love herself! He had said at first, that he would not visit the cottage on the following day, but with the morning’s light, his resolution had faded, and as soon as he had bathed and breakfasted, he called a cab and drove out to Hampstead. CHAPTER XIV.