through the street where I lived on the day of his departure, he went, yet never left me; I too went along with him, and yet I did not depart the following day; who would believe it? In how many ways doth misfortune bring about the accomplishment of her ends to the unhappy; the following day, I say, my uncle resolved to return to Italy, and take me with him; and I could devise no excuse, nor feign sickness, for my pulse was strong, and my complexion healthy; my uncle could not have believed that I was ill, but that I was averse to his matrimonial project, and so sought for means to escape going. I found a moment in which to write and tell Andrew what had happened, and that I was forced to depart, but that I would try and go by this city, where I would feign myself possessed by the evil one, and so gain time for delay to allow time for him to leave Salamanca, and come to Lucca, where, in spite of my uncle and of the whole world, he should be my husband; that my happiness and his own depended upon the haste he made. If this plan pleased him, if my letter reached him, and it must have done, for the posts are safe and certain, he will be here before three days have passed: I, on my side, have done all I could; I have a legion of devils within me, for is it not that to have an ounce of love in one's heart, when hope afar off is flattering one's affections? This, ladies, is my story; this, my madness, this, my illness, my love-sick thoughts are the demons which torment me; I feel no hunger, because I expect the fulfilment of every desire; nevertheless, doubt and anxiety pursue me, for as the saying is, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. Help me, then, dear ladies, in keeping up my imposture, and assist me by persuading my uncle, if I am not better, to delay our journey further for some days; perhaps it may please Heaven to bless me with the coming of my Andrew." We need not ask whether the hearers were not greatly astonished at the story of Isabella, since the story was in itself a wonder, and must strike as such the ears of all who heard it. They offered their services to assist her in her devices, and to obtain delay, in hopes of soon seeing the end of them, as they were not able to wait much longer themselves. [Illustration] CHAPTER XXI. The fair Isabella made haste to assume the part of a possessed one again, and her four new friends to support her by confirming the idea of her illness, and that she was verily possessed by an evil spirit; and truly love was such, since it could make a woman seem a demoniac.