As he walked up the street in a brown study, he at last observed that a
very pretty woman dogged him, sometimes walking a-head and looking back,
at others dropping astern, and then again ranging up alongside. He
looked her in the face, and she smiled sweetly, and then turned her head
coquettishly, and then looked again with eyes full of meaning. Now,
although Mr Vanslyperken had always avoided amours on account of the
expense entailed upon them, yet he was, like a dry chip, very
inflammable, and the extreme beauty of the party made him feel unusual
emotions. Her perseverance too--and her whole appearance so very
respectable--so superior to the class of people who generally accosted
him. He thought of the widow and her money-bags, and thought, also, how
infinitely more desirable the widow would be, if she possessed but the
beauty of the present party.
"I do believe I've lost my way," exclaimed the young person. "Pray, sir,
can you tell me the way to Castle Street, for I'm almost a stranger?
And" (added she, laughing) "I really don't know my way back to my
own house."
Castle Street was, at that time, one of the best streets in Portsmouth,
as Mr Vanslyperken well knew.
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